EPIC
by HILLBILLYHUNTER XD
Summary: Two penpals from opposite sides of the world are thrown into Narnia with a mission from Aslan: To teach the Pevensies how to be young again. Set in Prince Caspian. Please Read and Review. :D
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this awesome story is being written by Gabby and Jordi, two fan fiction veterans with our own stories. We have decided to write together XD**

**So here we go!**

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**EMILY-**

As the 'Fasten your seatbelts' sign flashed up at the front of the plane, I rubbed my sore eyes. They had adjusted to the generic light of the aeroplane hours ago, but I knew as soon as I stepped off into the bright light of Nashville, Tenessee, they'd be watering like crazy. My eyes were just weak like that.

I smiled weakly at my friend at the plane landed. It was a long, long flight, and for a hyperactive person like myself, it isn't easy to sit still for that long. The plane shook and I closed my eyes, a bit scared. This was the first time I'd ever been on a plane, and it was a bit of an experience.

As the plane slowed to a stop, I glanced out the window. I was pretty shallow when I imagined the big green fields, with clear blue skies. Of course, that image had been shattered by my friend Maria, who lived right here, somewhere in that maze of buildings.

I'd never really been one for cities. I mean, for short stops, shopping trips, concerts, it was a bit of a novelty. But I really preferred wide, open spaces, where I could run around, burn some energy. I was excited about this trip, sure, but Nashville was just a stopover on the way to Hollywood, the place our school had been fundraising for us, the tenth grade drama class, to go to for two years.

We were scheduled to be in Nashville for two days, and we were allowed to shop and do pretty much whatever we wanted, as long as we stayed downtown. Unfortunately, that put a trip to Maria off the itinerary.

The funniest part was, even though I had been talking to her over the internet for a year, I hadn't told her I was coming. I had planned to visit her on our second day here, surprise her completely when her Australian pen pal turned up on her doorstep. But ever since the teacher had declared downtown only, I had no way.

"So, I'm guessing your visit to Maria is off," my friend Sally stated bluntly. I nodded, sighing.

"Well, why can't you just email her, and tell her to come downtown?" Sally asked, raising her eyebrows as we stepped out of the airport.

"That, my dear, is an excellent idea." I giggled, and looked around. "But I need the internet."

"Emily, this is America. Don't they have like internet cafes or something?"

"True." I nodded.

"Its times like this when you miss the free wireless we get at McDonalds, hey?" Sally laughed, and I cracked a grin. We both looked up as our teacher called for our attention.

"Alright guys," he said, "We are staying at the Doubletree Hotel, which is right here downtown. You all have your maps, and curfew is at 8, which gives you about five hours. Remember, you have tomorrow as well, so don't splurge too much."

And with a few more warnings, the group split up. Sally and I had never really been big shoppers, so we busied ourselves in trying to find somewhere with internet. It got really busy around us, people always pushing and shoving with grumpy looks on their uptight faces. But, we needed information, seeing as neither Sal nor I could read maps very well.

"Excuse me!" I called to a man who was walking past. He kept walking, so I got a bit pissed off. I ran after him into the crowd of people, and tugged on his arm. He turned around angrily.

"Excuse me sir, do you think you could tell me where the nearest internet café is?" He frowned at me, looking me up and down.

"Go back to your own country, tourist." He sneered and strolled away. I was really angry, and made my way back to Sally.

"What an ass." She agreed, laughing at my face. "Luckily, I've asked someone a bit more knowledgeable." She led me over to a small garden, rimmed with stone, to where a teenage boy, maybe a bit older than us was leaning against a pushbike.

"So how can I help you ladies?" he said slyly, and I grimaced.

"The nearest internet café?" Sally asked.

"About a block away." He replied, and Sally and I looked confused.

"Oh, right, Australians. Things are a bit different here, right?" I nodded.

"Could you just point us in the right direction?" I asked, wanting to get away from him.

"Sure, honey." He took a few minutes explaining where it was, and Sal and I thanked him before hurrying along the crowded street. The layout of this place was so confusing, and it didn't help that I was at least a foot shorter than everyone else. Luckily, Sally was tall, and she took my hand and led us over to the blue themed café.

We trudged inside, and ordered hot chocolate. I was never one for coffee. We then made our way to a computer all hooked up on the side of the shop as our drinks were brought to us. I took a sip, and almost gagged.

It didn't taste right, like normal chocolate, or good old Milo.

Oh right, America.

I logged into my email address, and typed up two messages for Maria. The first was just a couple of words to freak her out.

_Nashville smells funny._

Sally laughed and sipped at her drink, making a face.

I giggled and wrote another.

_Hey Dude, _

_YES, I am in Nashville!_

_School trip :) I was going to come visit, but my evil teacher has pronounced that we are allowed downtown only. I will be here all day tomorrow, but the day after that I leave for Hollywood. It would be awesome if you came and met me tomorrow, we could chill, maybe have an intense face to face discussion about Narnia…_(DID I MENTION MARIA ANDI ARE MEGA FANS?!)

_And you can show us the sights. _

_Lemme know dude. _

_I'm staying at the Doubletree Hotel, downtown. Give me a call, hey?_

_Catchya,_

_Emily._

* * *

**MARIA-**

"For Narnia, and for Aslaaaaaaaan!!" shouted Peter Pevensie from my TV as his unicorn reared back and he thrust his sword into the air, looking sexy all the while. He then charged forward, followed by hundreds of creatures of the magical variety, and lead his army straight into the oncoming assault of the White Witch's army. Oh look, there's Edmund and Mr. Beaver.

Just then my mother came into the room to the sight of me sprawled across the couch, a Pepsi in hand, watching in complete captivation as the two armies met after a moment of slow motion silence and dramatic close ups. Her snort alerted me to her presence.

"You're watching that movie _again_?" she asked skeptically, eyeing the TV with a raised brow. I spoke without looking up at her, my eyes glued to the screen as the scene changed from the battle to Susan and Lucy at the Stone Table, crying over Aslan's dead body.

"It would appear so," I said.

"Don't you think you've watched that movie enough to have it memorized? I'm pretty sure the other night I heard you quoting it in your sleep."

"Moooom I'm bored! What else am I supposed to do with myself? And anyways, I can't help it if they're fantastically addicting movies!" I said in a whiney sort of tone, rolling onto my side and facing her. I batted my eyelashes at her innocently.

"They're called friends. You might want to try getting some." Mom said sarcastically. "Lauren lives four houses away from you! Go over there and hang out with her!" she shouted, indicating to my best friend's house.

"Don't boss me, woman! Besides, Lauren came over yesterday. I want to watch hot sexy guys save Narnia!" I said.

Mom offered no reply, only threw a pillow that was sitting on the loveseat at my head and left the room, saying she had better things to do with her time than watch me drool over some fictional characters as she went. I contentedly rolled back over and continued watching my movie.

That was the pattern of my days. Get up, eat breakfast, check email, watch movie, fight extreme boredom. Every day, very rarely varying. It was mind-bogglingly, horrendously boring and repetitive.

It was fall break, and at my school, we had two weeks off-one for Thanksgiving, the other for the teachers because they don't like us and need more time away. Two weeks of doing absolutely nothing, just sitting around being lazy and procrastinating the projects and other homework one was assigned.

It was awful. I felt like my brain was melting and I was being forced to paint my walls with the pinkish liquidy substance left behind. Every one else had gone out of town, so no one could come over and there was no ones houses to go to. And as a result of them being out of town, no one was able to answer their phones when I call them nearly crying from the boredom. So I was stranded and left alone to fend away the evil villain that was nothing more than a state of my own mind.

As I snapped out of my reverie about my boredom and actually focused on my movie again, I saw not the epic scenes of the battle, but the final shots of the Pevensie's coronation. _Jeez, snooze much? _I thought sarcastically to myself. Not much feeling like watching the children grow up and then go back to England, to their great horror, I stopped the movie and stood, stretching till my back popped. After that was accomplished, I looked around the room for something else to do.

Watch another movie? Nah, my butt was numb from sitting in one place for such an extended amount of time… Play Wii? Nope, no fun by yourself… Play with my dogs? Don't think so, that'd only be fun for them.

Have you ever noticed how wonderful timing mothers have? I'm not sure if it's a universal thing with women who have had children, but my mom sure as heck does. Just as I was about to scream in frustration at the lack of things to do, she bustled into the room, cell-phone in hand, and said,

"Hey Maria, your grandmother sent you a funny Thanksgiving email, go check your email and send her a nice reply to it."

Check my email! There was something I hadn't done in a while. I could have sang I was so happy. In fact, I did, but only momentarily.

"Yes ma'am!" I said, skipping upstairs and into the computer room.

I pulled the computer up and logged into my email. Sure enough, there was an email from my grandma entitled "Happy Turkey Day, Gobblers." Among around twenty five other messages. Oh, happy day, I should be here for a while.

After typing up a good response to my grandma, going through about half of the messages, which turned out to be from a social website called Facebook, I came to two emails from my friend, Emily.

Emily was a dear friend of mine, although we didn't technically know each other. We had met and befriended each other on a website called Fanfiction, where you write original stories for your favorite books, movies, etc. I was reviewing one of her stories and managed to guess part of the upcoming plot, about which we started messaging each other, which turned to emails, which turned to Facebook, which turned to letters, and the rest is history. We were now dear friends, despite the fact we didn't even live in the same country and hadn't officially met. Emily lived in Australia, 13 hours away from my home land of the USA. But we still managed a continuous chain of communications back and forth.

I opened her first email, and frowned in confusion.

_Nashville smells funny. _

What on earth..?

Hoping for an explantion, I opened the second email and, as I read through, felt my jaw drop, and once I had finished let out a scream of elation. I feverishly typed a reply, two words, praying for her to understand., before I jumped up, ran to my room, grabbed a jacket, ran down stairs(tripping and falling down the last five in my haste), told my mom I had to go somewhere, and sprinted out the door. I was halfway out when I turned on my heel and barreled back up to my room, throwing my closet doors open and, after a minute of searching, found what I was looking for. Having changed, I ran back down the stairs, this time managing not to fall, and out the door, slamming it behind me. I ran across the cal-de-sac and up to my neighbors front door, anxiously ringing the doorbell in my haste.

Thank God, it was Lauren who answered. She was wearing pajama pants and a band shirt, and I could hear her Ipod speakers blaring from the computer room. It was pretty obvious she was home alone.

"Hey Maria, what's up?" she asked, opening the door and letting me inside. "Nice shirt," she added sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she looked at my last minute wardrobe change. I sniffed. Yes, it was a nice shirt. Who wouldn't want Peter and Edmund on their boobs? And anyways, it was perfect for the occasion. But I chose to ignore her comment.

"I really really need you to drive me some where. Please? I will pay you and be your personal slave forever." I said in a rush, drawing ten bucks from my purse.

"I'll keep the cash." she said, taking the money and putting it down on her coffee table. "Here, let me go get dressed. Where do you need to go?"

"No time to get dressed. We need to go, like, now. The downtown library. I'll explain on the way." I said, literally jumping back and forth between my feet in my excited state.

Getting her keys from the key ring, she snorted and said sarcastically, "What, is there a massive sale on the Narnia books you can't wait to get your hands on?"

"I'll explain on the way." I said firmly.

And so, we sped off for the downtown public library, bordering on speeding the whole trip, I told Lauren about the email I'd gotten from Emily and its contents. After hearing it, she sped up even more until we got there at the exact time I was supposed to.

"I'll text you when I need you to come get me," I said, jumping out of the car. Lauren nodded.

"I think I'm going to go get some fast food, seeing as I now have some cash to blow. You want anything?" she asked distractedly, leaning onto her wheel and looking out the windshield to find any available restaurants. I smirked. Typical Lauren, obsessed with eating yet constantly managing to remain ultra thin.

"Sure, I'll have whatever you do." I replied, zipping my jacket against the bracing November air.

"Ok. Well I'll see you later. Have fun!!" she said, her face breaking into a grin.

"I can guarantee you I will. Thanks for the ride." I said, also grinning from ear to ear.

"Thanks for the cash. See ya."

And with that, I slammed her car door and watched as she sped away, before turning and sprinting into the library, the stupid grin never leaving my face.

_Hey Dude, _

_YES, I am in Nashville!_

_School trip :) I was going to come visit, but my evil teacher has pronounced that we are allowed downtown only. I will be here all day tomorrow, but the day after that I leave for Hollywood. It would be awesome if you came and met me tomorrow, we could chill, maybe have an intense face to face discussion about Narnia…_(DID I MENTION MARIA AND I ARE MEGA FANS?!)

_And you can show us the sights. _

_Lemme know dude. _

_I__'__m staying at the Doubletree Hotel, downtown. Give me a call, hey?_

_Catchya,_

_Emily._

**EMILY-**

I clicked inbox for what seemed like the zillionth time in ten minutes. I really hoped Maria had been near her computer, I truly did. I sucked in a breath when I saw her reply. Two words:

_Public Library._

"SALLY!" I yelped, and she ran back over from where she had been ordering a brownie.

"She replied?" she asked, and I nodded in happiness.

"Public Library…" Sally breathed.

"Have you got the map?" I asked.

Sally just looked at me.

"Aw, that's cute. Like you actually think I can read it…" Sally mocked, and I laughed.

"Hang on," I sighed, and walked over to the counter where an elderly lady was leaning.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest public library is?" I asked sweetly, hoping she was nicer than that ass downtown.

"Sure, sweetie. Australian, huh? Never been to Australia, I say it must be hot there," she babbled, and Sally cleared her throat.

"Uh, the..library?" Sally pressed.

"Oh, of course honey!" She made a little handrawn map, and we set off in the direction of the library. As we walked, we passed various shops, and I caught a glimpse of a t-shirt.

Actually, that's a lie. I caught a glimpse of Edmund Pevensie's (SIGH) face, and I stopped dead. I leant back, and saw him and Peter imprinted on a t-shirt.

OHMYGOSHIHADTOHAVEIT.

So I bolted inside the store, a confused Sally on my heels. I grabbed the shirt, and bought it straight away, before slipping it on in the changing rooms. Maria was going to looooovvveee this.

We left the store, and kept on our way. But as we did, we saw an antique store. At least I think that's what it was. It was full of random things, books clothes…

We had plenty of time, so Sal and I edged inside. I just had a feeling that something important was here. I made my way up to the jewellery counter, and looked at the glass.

What I saw nearly took my breath away.

Two identical necklaces, with thin twisted chains, and the pendant..a tiny gold lion's head.

They were perfect, and my first thought was Aslan.

So, naturally, I pulled out my ancient wallet, and bought them, keeping them both in the tiny wrapping the employee gave me.

Oh yes, Gabby was going to loveee me.

Sally and I hurried the rest of the way to the library. It was big. Okay, that was an understatement.

In my tiny town, the library was about the size of a tiny house, and even the one in the bigger town was about the size of a bigger house.

So naturally, me always having a love for books, my jaw dropped, and my eyes widened.

"Wow," breathed Sal. She turned to me. "I think I'm going to go find some fast food. Hopefully something better than that café." We both made a face at the memory. I smiled as she walked away, before hurrying up the stairs into the massive, awesome building.

* * *

**Review :)**

**From Gabby and Jordi.**


	2. Chapter 2

*Chapter 2*

**Hiddy there! Gabby and Jordi here! Well currently it's Gabby typing, but the spirit of Jordi is constantly watching, so technically its both of us. *glances over shoulder nervously* Heh heh, righto. Hope you like our story so far, cause we sure as heck know we do xD**

**Here's the next chappie. Enjoy!**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**MARIA-**

I ran through one of the sets of huge brass double doors with carvings of animals from nature and fairytale, into the entrance hall to the downtown Nashville Public Library. A man sitting in a large round desk nodded his head at me with a smile as I passed, before leaning back in his chair and going back to his magazine. I hurried past him and into the actual library, glancing around in anxious anticipation at the people lolling around, looking for the face I'd only seen in pictures.

I felt like an idiot, standing there bouncing around looking for Emily in that one singular room. After all, there were corridors on both sides of this room, and another three levels to the building in addition to this one. I felt myself smirk despite myself. I could imagine Emily's reaction, coming from a small Australian town and having an immense love for books, to seeing this monster of a library for the first time. Oh, if only I had been there to see it.

_Now, let's think logically_, I told myself. _Emily's never been here before. She has no idea where the hell she is. She's probably not going to go tearing around this humongous library while she's waiting for me, she wouldn't want to get lost. _

So, with those thoughts in mind, I settled myself on the huge Monopoly board that was displayed in the center of the room("Life's just one big game of Monopoly. Beat all your friends with the Tennessee lottery!!" a sign next to it said) and prepared myself to wait. I stationed myself at the side of the board facing the library entrance, right next to the "go to jail" square, and stared intently at the doors.

After a few minutes of waiting, it started to get stuffy in the library, so I unzipped my jacket and slid out of it, turning slightly to put it behind me on the Monopoly board. I was still twisted around, folding the jacket into a more organized pile of squishy when I heard, shouting despite the strict library rules, a thickly accented voice.

".NARNIA."

My head whipped around with a painful crack-I was going to be feeling that in the morning. But at the moment, I didn't care. All I cared about was the person standing across the library from me, staring at me with the biggest smile I've ever seen and huge brown eyes.

"EMILY!!" I screeched, springing from the table and charging at her.

It was like one of those cheesy romantic movie moments, when the couple ran at each other through the flower field or crowded airport in slow motion, calling each others names with their arms wide open. Only, we were two girls, and we were in a library, and we weren't a couple. But you get the metaphor.

We slammed into each other at full force, each throwing our arms around the other in a massive bear hug. We were screaming excitedly in some language I figure belongs to an unknown subspecies of human, but it definitely wasn't English. I was well aware of the glares of the other people in the library, but I ignored them. Screw them, I mean come on, can they blame us for being excited about finally meeting our best friend from another country for the first time?

Apparently, they can. A woman who was standing behind the check out counter came from behind it and made her way over to us, the clicking of her high heels on the marble floor competing to be heard over our shrieks. Once she got to us, she stopped, cupped her hands together in front of her, and cleared her throat clearly. _Hem hem. _It reminded me of Professor Umbridge from Harry Potter, only young, and skinny. And not toad like.

Emily and I pulled out of the hug and faced the woman, ecstatic smiles still plastered on our faces. We both had to look up to face her.

"This is a library, not the shopping mall, ladies. Please, straighten up your behavior, or you will be asked to leave. And may I remind you, seeing as you both have clearly forgotten your library etiquette, that there is no food or drink permitted in any part of the library. If you have it, take it to the courtyard out back on the third level. Thank you." and without waiting for apologies, questions, comments, snide remarks, etc, she turned on her heel and stormed back to her desk, her heels now the only sound echoing through the room.

After a moment of stunned silence, Emily turned to me. "Are all American's that nice?" she asked in a quieter voice, still not quite a whisper and just loud enough so that the checkout lady could hear us. Her head snapped up to us and her eyes narrowed dangerously, and with an exchanged glance between us, we took off for the stairs, and a different floor, giggling madly the whole time.

We took her advice and went up to the third floor courtyard, and as we passed through the huge door that was a twin to the ones downstairs outside the library, I slipped my jacket on again. As I was about to zip it again, Emily's hand shot out and grabbed my hand, stopping me. I looked up at her, puzzled, and noticed her shirt.

We were wearing the same shirt, with Peter and Edmund Pevensie plastered on the front. I felt my jaw drop stupidly.

"Oh my God, that's so weird!!" I squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. She joined in, flapping her hands as she spoke.

"Eeee I know!!! I saw this in a store window on the way over here and just HAD to buy it! Ohhhohoohoooh!!" she suddenly stopped jumping and reached into her purse, where she pulled out a small plastic bag proudly displaying the words "Thank you for shopping with us!" in fancy cursive writing that I was pretty sure hadn't been used since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. After pulling out a small bundle of wrapping paper, she handed me the bag. Curiously, I looked inside and found another small bundle of wrapping paper, the same size as Emily's. (**GABBYNOTE-I stopped to eat dinner here. Thought you'd like to know. On with the story! Heehee)**

"Well go on, staring at it isn't gonna make it jump up and start unwrapping itself!" she urged me, her eyes shining in excitement.

As quickly as my cold hands would let me, I undid the confusing maze of wrapping paper until I came to what it was protecting. I felt myself let out a small gasp as I lifted the item from its paper cocoon.

Inside was a beautiful necklace with a small, delicate chain consisting of smaller gold chains woven together, which reminded me of the intertwined roots of huge trees in an ancient forest. The pendant of the necklace was a tiny lions head the size of my thumbnail, painted bright yellow. The eyes of the lion were a piercing amber coulor, and as I gazed down at them I got the feeling I was looking into a real lion's eyes.

I looked away from the lion pendant up at Emily, who had already put on her matching necklace and was watching my reaction with a large smirk on her face.

"Where did you find these?" I asked, my happiness evident in my voice.

"This teeny little antique store I saw on the way here from the Doubletree. I got this weird calling to go in, and just rolled with it, and went straight for the necklaces. Do you like them?" she pressed.

"Oh my God, they're fabulous! I love them! Thank you soooo much Emily!" I cried, throwing my arms around her neck.

"Sure thing, chikadee. Seriously though, are all Americans that awful? Everyone I've ran into thus far has been either a total ass, a douche, or slightly off their rocker." she said back, turning completely serious.

I laughed. "That's America for you. Land of the impatient, fat, self appeasing assholes."

She remained serious. "I swear, Maria, you're the only decent and sane one.." she trailed off, looking at me through squinted eyes. "Well, decent one."

We both laugh and linked arms, and found ourselves walking aimlessly around the library, chatting about anything and everything imaginable. We got many stares and snickers from people, no doubt for our all out matching Narnian themed outfits, but we blatantly ignored these people and continued on our merry ways.

We went to the back of the hall on the left side of the stairway after entering through the courtyard, to the historical section, which contained many maps and pictures of the American, and more dominatingly, Tennessean history. I showed her the maps, documents for display, books and brief summaries of historical events, trying to help her get a better idea of where she was, but neither of us were really interested in this. So she stuck to studying the current maps of downtown Nashville, the most recent of which occupied an entire wall, as we continued to chat.

Eventually, as we both knew it would, the conversation turned to Narnia, a subject for which we both had a fiery passion.

"I love these shirts," Emily chirped happily as we relinked arms, exiting the historical section. As we left, I bumped into a bust of some dead Tennessean wearing a raccoon hat-with the tail- and almost knocked it off its podium. Emily sprang over and steadied the podium as I grabbed the bust and reset it. "Geez, klutz much?" she added, smirking at me.

I huffed and felt a pinkish tint creep into my face. "Well, he should have moved out of my way if he didn't want to get knocked over."

Emily snickered. "It's a bust, Maria. It CAN'T get out of your way."

My expression turned dreamy. "If we were in Narnia, it could."

"I think you're thinking of Hogwarts."

"Same thing. Hogwarts is in Narnia."

"What have you been smoking prior to meeting me here and where can I get some? No, it's not, it's in England, why else did they just have to ride a train to get there?" she said.

"Well they rode a train to get to the wardrobe!" I said back.

"And they went through the wardrobe to get to Narnia."

"This conversation is discontinued."

"Fine by me, I have to pee anyways. Where are the little feminina's rooms?" Emily asked, looking up and down the corridor.

"Erm, there's one on the first floor, left side, but I don't think there are any up here." I replied, also looking around and finding no bathrooms from where I was standing.

"Ugh, but that's so much walking… but my wee little bladder is about to burst. So I'll see you in a few." and with that, Emily turned and started down the stairs.

"Mkay. Try not to get lost, or fall in, and try especially hard to avoid both!" I said after her, earning a bewildered glance from a passing woman, who hurried her small child along at a faster rate than she'd previously been walking. Feeling my face turn red, I turned on my heel and ran for the cover of the section I was standing in front of.

Which turned out to be the fantasy section. Planets, rocket ships, dragons, fairies and other subjects of fantasy books hung from the dusk blue ceiling. On the walls were murals portraying scenes from classic fairy tales.

Harry Potter was on one wall, sitting on top of a very angry looking troll's head while Ron stood taking aim with a piece of bathroom stall and Hermione cowered beneath the sinks. On another wall was Eragon, riding his great blue dragon Sapphira, brandishing a sword while hovering above a battle scene. On yet another, Frodo stood holding the golden Ring above a pit of lava, his face uncertain and weary.

There was one mural, directly across from me on the far back wall, that caught and captivated my attention. It was of a dark haired boy standing next to a tall, beautiful, deathly pale woman with a crown on her head and a wand in her hand. The boy had in his hand a box of sweeties, and was holding one to his mouth, ready to take a bite. Directly above this, still in the same mural, was a funny looking little goat man, turned to stone wearing a bright red scarf. A young girl stood at his side, her face burried in her hands. Above this one was the image of another boy, this one blond, holding a sword and a shield and charging a wolf. In the back ground, a black haired girl was hanging from the tree, her expression horrified as another wolf jumped at her feet. Yet another painting was above this, this one the largest and most detailed of them all. It depicted the four children used in previous pictures wearing capes and medieval clothes, sitting upon thrones with golden crowns on their heads. A lion's face floated above them, smiling down at them.

I felt a dreamy smile place itself on my face and realized that without controlling myself I had started forward, toward the wall and the bookcase placed beneath its mural. For some reason, I found myself compelled to look through the third shelf of the case, not sure what I was looking for. Then, as I brought my hand over the very back of the shelf for the third time, I found something there that I hadn't felt two seconds ago.

I brought my arm and the items back out, and looked down to see what I had found. I heard a small gasp I realized had come from me.

In my hand were the oldest, dustiest, most authentic looking book I'd ever laid eyes on. There were so many layers of dust, I couldn't even read the titles. Inhaling deeply, I blew out on the cover of the first book, sending dust flying into the air. I kept blowing until finally the layers of dust cleared enough for me to read the title of the mystery book.

_The Chronicles of Narnia_

_Prince Caspian_

_By C.S. Lewis_

I went through the process again with the second book and found this one to be the same book. I sat down on the library floor, staring down in shock at what I had in my hands. These appeared to be original copies of the book, so old I would even shoot for the first ones C.S Lewis even printed. And there were two of them.

This was too good to be true. I sprang to my feet and hurried to the check out desk at the front of the fantasy section, finding to my great happiness there was no line.

"How may I help you?' said the clerk, this one a kindly old woman whose smile lit up her wrinkled face. I found myself smiling back.

"Hello ma'am," I said politely, taking the books and gingerly placing them on the desk, as if they might crumble into ash. "I was actually wondering if I could buy these books to keep, I'd be willing to pay as much as you want for them," I explained as she examined the books with gnarled hands.

After a moment, she looked up at me with a puzzled expression and answered. "Well you're in luck deary. Normally we're not allowed to sell books from the library, but these have no barcodes, and seem to be, if they even belonged to the library at any point, from a very old collection that has been replaced. So I'll sell them to you for five dollars each."

I was smiling so much at this point I felt as if my face would split. This really was probably the best day of my life, a day I'd hold comparable to my future wedding day. Not literally, of course.

As the old woman was ringing up my purchase, I heard a voice echoing in from the hallway. "Maria? Maaaaariiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaa?"

I poked my head around the archway into the hall and waved Emily in, leaning back after she'd seen me to pay attention to the woman. She placed the books in a paper bag, smiled and wished me a good day, which I returned.

"Whatcha got there?" Emily asked, following me as I lead her back to the mural and the bookshelf. Her attention was then captivated by the mural. More specifically, Edmund.

"Mmm… Edmund.."

"So, I was standing there waiting for you to piss and I saw this mural. And then all the sudden I was walking back to it, even though I didn't mean to be. And then I was searching through the shelves, and even though I'd checked that second to last shelf twice already, when I checked it a third time, these were there." I said, pulling out the copies of Narnia. Emily snatched one from me.

"There's two!" she said, looking meaningfully at me. I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"Yeah, and I bought them both. One for you, one for me." I said, earning a squeal and a hug from her.

"Yeeeeeeeeeee oh thank you THANK you, Maria! Dude, do you realize how old these things are? They look like C.S Lewis himself sold them to the library! This is so cool!"

"I know. But Em, don't you think it's weird that I was so compelled to the exact place where they were?" I asked, growing serious. Her brows creased.

"Yeah, that actually is. Very weird…"

Emily and I left the library not long after that and went to walk around downtown. I showed her to all the best restaurants, thrift stores, cool office buildings, and the capitol building. A few hours later, the temperature dropped and we both got cold, and she said something about wanting hot chocolate but the American hot chocolate tasted like crap. I asked her what she meant, and she explained to me that she and her friend had purchased hot chocolate at the small cyber cafe they had gone to to email me. I laughed and told her that the particular café they went to was a very crappy one in general, and after assuring her not all American hot chocolate tasted like the substance you make after eating which it was similar to in colour, I lead her to a coffee shop. We both got large hot chocolates, which she approved of after very grudgingly sampling, and took off again.

Before we knew it, the sun had set and a look at a watch told us it was 7:50 PM. 10 minutes until Emily's curfew. I walked her back to the Doubletree hotel, and we said a tearful goodbye, sad our day together was over.

"See you again tomorrow, chickadee?" Emily said, sniffling slightly.

"Of course. I'll meet you here around 10:30. That ok?'

"Works for me. See ya then."

"Buh bye Em." We hugged again, and then I started back for the library, where I found Lauren waiting in her car for me.

We got home 15 minutes later, and I once again thanked her as she dropped me off at my house. I went inside and after greeting my parents and going up to take a shower, found myself in my room, once again bored.

I wasn't for long though. Quickly, I remembered I had bought that book I'd bought and decided to read through it. I managed to get to the part where Prince Caspian was in the forest with Trufflehunter and Nikabrik before my head fell back into my pillows and I found myself asleep.

Little did I know, somewhere downtown, my friend Emily had reached and fallen asleep at the exact same part in the book.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!!!**

**Jordzilla here, how are you all doing?**

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* * *

EMILY-

When I reached the end of chapter six in Prince Caspian, I felt my eyelids grow heavy. What on earth…? I thought. I wasn't even tired…why were my eyes closing?

It was like I was having an out-of-body experience. I was aware of everything, completely awake, and yet my body had completely shut down, like I was asleep. Suddenly I felt myself get very hot. There was a heat in my chest, spreading through my veins. And then it grew cold. Like, really cold. Icy. I heard my own gasp.

Suddenly, I heard the window smash, and I forced my eyelids to open. All of a sudden I had full control of my body back, and I leapt up, looking around wildly. The window was in pieces, and a freezing wind was blowing inside, and the colours in the hotel room seemed to be flickering. I shivered, the ice in my veins mixed with the wind almost unbearable. I glanced over to Sally's bed, where she slept peacefully. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Didn't she hear the window break?

And then, as suddenly as it came, the wind stopped. My body temperature returned to normal, and the colours around the room stopped flickering. I let out a breath of relief, and turned back to my bed, where the ancient copy of Prince Caspian had somehow been knocked to the floor. I reached down to pick it up, and my fingertips seemed to tingle.

But then, I felt the strangest need.

I needed to sneeze.

I sucked in a deep breath, and held my nose with my fingers. This was the worst moment to have snot blown everywhere. I felt the sneeze coming, and closed my eyes.

I let the sneeze out, and took a deep breath, and opened my eyes.

I flinched widely, my eyes wide.

I was standing in a thick forest, the ground covered in green leafy ferns. It seemed extremely familiar, and the colours were really bright. They seemed more…colourful…than the colours back home. How strange.

I was taking short, quick breaths as I looked around in complete and utter confusion to see Maria standing a few meters away, her mouth wide like a goldfish.

"Em!" she gasped. We ran towards eachother, panting in shock.

"What-" I gasped, but was interrupted by a deep, majestic voice.

"Daughters of Eve." Maria and I both froze. We knew that voice.

_Aslan?_

Maria looked over my shoulder and gasped.

"ASLAN?!" she shrieked, and I wheeled around too.

There he was, the great Lion, overseer of worlds, creator of Deep Magic.

He was real?

I knew it.

So, completely unknowing of what to do, I made a split second decision to channel Lucy Pevensie.

"Aslan!" I yelped, and ran forward, hugging him, brushing his fur. I heard him chuckle as Maria joined us. We wrestled with the great Lion for a few minutes, before he settled us beside him, as he lay in the sea of ferns.

"Now, my daughters," he said slowly, and I was lost in the hypnotizing sound of his voice. "Everyone who comes to Narnia has-"

"NARNIA?!" Maria and I screeched. Aslan smiled at us.

"Oh, sorry." Maria giggled, and Aslan continued.

"As I was saying, everyone that visits Narnia," I elbowed Maria and she grinned, "has a higher purpose, a real reason for being there." We nodded, transfixed.

"But for you to complete your purpose, my children, I must take away any memory you have of the stories of Narnia."

"So, we won't remember anything?" I asked.

"You will remember certain characters, but you will not remember what will happen to them."

"Okay," Maria agreed.

"I know you both have had certain fancies for certain Narnian Kings," Aslan said, chuckling. Maria and I blushed.

"And here we have it; your 'mission' so to speak, is to get to know the young Kings, loosen them up, as you would say. They both have so much responibilty on their shoulders, they have forgotten how to be young, how to truly live, and get close to other people." We both nodded, remembering what we knew about the stories.

"Good luck, my daughters…" Aslan said, and breathed on us. I felt all memories of the Narnia series fade…The extraordinary colours of the forest began to fade, and we found ourselves in an exact replica, apart from the fact that the colours seemed dimmer.

I turned to Maria, my mouth and eyes wide.

"Ohmygosh!" she squealed, and we hugged.

"We..get…boys…mission…" I sighed, so excited.

"I know!" Maria cried, hugging me again.

We separated, and looked around.

"This place seems…" Maria said, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Familiar?" I finished, and she nodded. We stood in silence for a second, looking around.

However, we both froze when we heard a deep, Spanish voice a little way away, hidden by the trees.

"I can hear you."

Another voice came from the area, with what seemed like a foreign accent.

"I just think we should wait for the Kings and Queens."

More footsteps.

The foreign voice called again, clearly annoyed. "Fine, go then! See if the others will be more understanding!"

A third voice cut into the silence. "Or maybe I'll come with you. I'd like to see you explain things to the minotaurs…" The footsteps stopped, and Maria and I, holding hands, began to edge forward. Something was telling me that these people were friends, not foes.

"Minotaurs?" the Spanish voice asked, "They're real?"

"And very bad tempered." The foreign voice said.

"Yeah, not to mention big."

"Huge."

The Spanish voice hesitated,a nd asked another question as Maria and I creapt even more forward.

"What about centaurs?" the man asked, "Do they still exist?"

"Well, the centaurs will probably fight on your side," the foreign voice assured him, "But theres no telling what the others will do."

Maria and I were leaning out from side of the tree, trying to see the small group. Maria was practically on top of me, and I felt the weight tipping.

"What about Aslan?" the Spanish boy asked, and my leg wobbled, sending both me and Maria to the ground with a loud "OOPH!"

We untangled ourselves, and rolled over to find a tall, good looking teenager standing above us, sword in hand. He had long, brown hair, and tanned skin. Even more tanned than me. Beside him stood a dark bearded dwarf, a short, yet sharp sword in his pudgy hand. On the other side was a badger, standing on his two hind legs.

"Oh, crap." Maria breathed, and I glanced at her, sending her a look that said, 'Let me do the talking.' She gave me a tiny nod, and I turned my head back to the boy. Somehow, I knew his name.

"Prince Caspian?" I asked, and he nodded, staring me down. I refused to give up, and death stared him right back.

"Who are you?" he asked, sword still in hand.

"My name is Emily. This is Maria."

"Where did you come from, Lady Emily?"

I was shocked when he placed the title before my name. Lady Emily…hmmm…I liked it.

"We came from the same world as the Kings and Queens of Old," Maria piped up, and I sent her a greatful look. Caspian's eyes widened, and he looked at us again, seeming nicer.

"Daughters of Eve?" he whispered, and we both nodded.

"You must have been summoned by the horn as well," the badger breathed. He saw our looks of astonishment, and smiled.

"I am Trufflehunter." He said kindly, and I instantly trusted him. "And this is Nikabrik." He gestured to the grumpy dwarf, who nodded.

We all smiled at eachother, and it all seemed very peaceful.

"Please, come with us to meet the other Narnian's." Caspian said, before helping us gently to our feet. He seemed nice. I could tell we'd be friends.

"Of course." Maria said, grinning like a lunatic. We exchanged looks of excitement as we started walking. It wasn't long however, before Trufflehunter froze.

"What is it?" Nikabrik asked. Trufflehunter's large nose twitched, and we all looked at him, worried.

"Human." He whispered.

"Them?" Nikabrik asked, jerking his thumb at us.

"No. _Them!_" We span around to see a large group of soldiers bolting towards us, crossbows in hand.

"There they are!" One yelled.

"RUN!" screamed Maria, and run we did. I seemed to get an extra burst of speed when an arrow grazed my cheek. While still running, I raised a hand to my face. Yup, it was bleeding. Craptastic.

Maria grabbed my hand, and we kept running, arrows zinging around us. We heard a yelp, and turned back to see Trufflehunter curled up on the grass, an arrow in his leg.

"Oh, no..!" Nikabrik gasped, and turned back for his friend.

"Wait!" Caspian yelled. "I'll go!" He ran back towards Trufflehunter, who was yelling and holding the ivory horn up in the air at Caspian. His eyes flashed up to us.

"Keep running!" the Prince bellowed, and Maria, Nikabrik and I turned tail.

But suddenly, we heard the pursuing guards yelling in shock and pain, and we turned back to watch the spectacle. Caspian laid the injured Trufflehunter down at our feet, and pulled out his sword, turning back to the unknown danger that was taking down Telmarine after Telmarine.

The ferns began to rustle as the assassin made his way towards Caspian.

I was seriously on the verge of yelling out to him, but I thought it a bad idea, seeing as he kinda needed to concentrate. The rustling got closer, and suddenly Caspian was flat on his back, a large mouse with a feather strapped to his ear and holding a tiny rapier was on his chest.

Caspian stared.

"You are a mouse." He stated. _Thankyou captain obvious._ I thought.

"I was hoping for something a little more original." The mouse replied dryly.

I couldn't help myself. Seeing a mouse take down a fully grown guy, it was just too much. I fell to the ground, laughing so hard tears streamed from my eyes. I opened them to see Maria on the ground next to me, clutching her ribs as she laughed.

Nikabrik stood above us, chuckling, and even the hurt Trufflehunter cracked a painful smile.

After we were done laughing, we realised that the mouse was threatening Caspian. Trufflehunter sobered up at once.

"Reepicheep, stay your blade!" he called.

Reepicheep looked over to the injured badger.

"Trufflehunter? I trust you have a good reason for this untimely interruption!"

Trufflehunter gasped in pain as he held up a claw.

"Please. He's the one who blew the horn!"

"Then let him bring it forth." Said a deep, Jamaiican sounding voice. Maria and I wheeled around to see a tall, dark skinned centaur, staring down at us. "For this is the reason we have gathered."

"Glenstorm!" Maria gasped, as if remembering something. The centaur looked down at us.

"Daughters of Eve, bringers of Youth. Your arrival was written in the stars." He said, smiling gently. We smiled back, and he led us away, through the forest. A minotaur carried Trufflehunter, and Caspian trudged along beside us.

"Are you ready?" I asked Caspian.

"For what?" he said.

"Well, seeing as we're about to go meet everyone else, shouldn't you have some kind of speech ready? Something to convince them?"

Caspian nodded, deep in thought, and Maria slapped his back.

"You'll be fine, boy." She laughed, and I grinned at her.

When we reached a massive clearing, it was dark. Caspian was placed in the center of a great gathering full of all manners of Narnian creatures. Glenstorm let Maria and I sit next to him. We must've looked weirdly out of place, seeing as we were both wearing pyjama's, but no one said a word. Glenstorm told us it would be another hour before everyone would arrive, so he nodded at a female centaur that happened to be his wife, and she led us to her home, a small cave, hollowed out. It was beautiful, and she gave us some food and water, while she bustled around, looking for clothes for us.

However, all she could find were Telmarine men's clothes, that her husband had found in the forest. Of course, everything was like a zillion miles too big.

"My dears, I'll have two dresses made up for you by the morning, I promise." She assured them kindly. "I am a seamstress, see, as well as a healer."

"Thankyou." I said, smiling at the lovely centaur.

"It isn't a problem, Daughter of Eve."

I was still getting used to being called a daughter of eve, and Lady Emily. I could see it was strange for Maria too.

"This is surreal..!" I said, and she nodded enthusiastically.

"We'd better get back to the Lawn," Maria said, tugging on her oversized clothes. At least she was taller than me. I had my pants rolled up seven times. Seven!

"I hope Caspian has thought about what he's gonna say," I said, frowning. "I can't remember whether they took his side or not…"

Maria frowned too, thinking hard. But, it seemed, the memory just wasn't…there.

"Lady Emily! Lady Maria!" we heard Caspian call. He looked nervous.

"Caspian. You'll be fine. Chill."

He looked confused. "Chill? Like winter's chill?" he cocked his head to the side and looked at me.

"Er…I'm gonna let Maria explain this one." I said quickly, and pushed Maria in front of me.

"Er…."she stuttered.

"Good Luck Caspian." I said, and we jogged over to Glenstorm.

Okay, so I have to admit. Caspian did well under pressure. I can't say it'd be much fun standing in the middle of a dark forest surrounded by an angry mob of creatures that you never thought existed…but he did good.

Caspian came out with an inspirational speech about bringing the two countries together. I was on the verge of yelling 'AMEN BROTHER!', but I thought it might be a bit inappropriate.

After everyone had pledged themselves to Caspian and the cause, Glenstorm and Caspian told us we were leaving for a place called 'Aslan's How' immediately. It wasn't far away, but it was dark, and Maria and I had travelled between worlds, almost been killed and sat through an inspirational speech, and we were beat.

So, I didn't really remember the trip to the How, just waking up inside with Maria on the floor next to me.

When she woke up, we talked for a while, about our little 'mission' especially.

"Seriously, I don't want to meet Peter looking like a hobo," Maria insisted, and I nodded. As if on cue, Glenstorms lovely wife, Windsong, trotted in, holding smaller men's clothes. Leggings that actually fit, and tunics.

I have to admit, I was really comfortable. I didn't really need a dress, I would probably just end up hurting myself in it, or ripping it..

"The Kings and Queens probably won't arrive until tomorrow," Windsong said, seeming to read my mind. "If you are bored, you could volunteer in the western patrol."

Maria and I both jumped up. We were really bored, and it didn't matter if we looked like crap at the moment. I mean, they weren't coming until tomorrow. We went out into the main chamber, where Caspian stood talking to a group of dwarves.

He handed Maria a bow, which she just looked at. It was obvious she had no clue what to do with it. He made to hand me a bow, but I shook my head.

"I want _those_." I said, pointing to a pair of longish daggers. He laughed and handed them to me, and I weighed them in my hands, pretending like I knew what I was doing. Maria snorted.

"Lets go…guard." She said in a deep voice, and then it was my time to snort.

**************

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	4. Chapter 4

*Chapter 4*

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**Maria-**

Emily and I followed Caspian and the rest of the guard.. team, I suppose you could call us, out of the How and into the early morning light. I opened my mouth in a grand yawn as I slung my bow across my back, causing Emily to yawn in return.

"I'm so tired!" she said, leaning heavily against me as we walked, causing me to trip. "Sorry, lovey." she added, standing up straight and smirking at my clumsiness.

"It's all good. And yeah, I am too. But I've got a feeling-"

"-That tonight's gonna be a good night?"

"..Well, that too, but what I was going to say is that something important is about to happen." I said, giving her a look out of the corner of my eye. Great, now the Black Eyed Peas were chanting about how good of a night they were going to have in my head. Thanks, Em.

"I do too, now that you mention it. Gosh, I wish I could remember what happens next in the books!" she said, stamping her foot in frustration.

"Yeah, me too! I feel helpless." I said.

Not that I wasn't appreciative of the fact that I had been chosen to show Peter Pevensie how to be young again. I mean, just meeting him was an opportunity thousands of girls would die for. But Aslan, the Great Lion himself, had practically told me to make him fall in love with me. What isn't there to be appreciative of?

The fact that I was trudging through an unknown forest in men's clothes that were five times too big with an unfamiliar weapon as my defense and surrounded by a bunch of mythological creatures, maybe? But I'm not complaining.

"I wonder when we're going to meet Edmund and Peter," Emily said with a sly smile, her eyes shining mischievously. I felt an excited blush creep onto my cheeks and I grabbed her hands, grinning madly.

"I can't wait!" I squealed, bouncing up and down on my feet.

"Me neither! I hope it's like, one of those totally romantic, love-at-first-sight moments! You know, where they see us and stop what their doing 'cause their breath is taken away by our beauty?" she said, looking dreamily off into the distance. I snorted.

"You sound like a Mary-Sue." that earned me a smack on the arm. Quickly, I changed the subject. "Well, I don't particularly care what their reactions are, just as long as we don't meet them today. You know, when we're floundering around in men's clothes?"

"Oh yeah, good point. And hopefully we meet them after we've had some training with our weapons, so we can wow them with our awesome skills, instead of just standing there like 'wtf are we supposed to do with these?'" Emily said, glaring pointedly at the two daggers strapped to her sides. I nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, I've used a small bow before, but it was a cheap one I got from the Renaissance Fair that doesn't even pull back all the way, and the arrows were sticks with eraser caps on the end. So, it's pretty safe to say I have no idea what I'm doing with this." I replied, reminiscing on my waste of 15 dollars.

Emily laughed out loud. "Loser." she snickered. I pouted before laughing, also. It was pretty lame.

The sun was fully risen and stretching its rays sleepily by the time we made it to the deep depths of the forest. Caspian stopped walking and motioned for us to gather around him.

"Now then, this is where we are going to patrol, for this is where any Telmarines or other opposing forces would be. I will split you into groups of 5 or so, according to how many troops we have, and you will patrol the areas assigned." he said. He then proceeded to, big shock, split us into groups.

I ended up in a group with a Minotaur named Asterius, Nikabrik the dwarf, Trufflehunter the badger, and Prince Caspian himself. So basically, the main group. We were to patrol the clearing in which we had stopped to split up, not straying too far into the trees. The clearing was small, maybe thirty or forty feet in diameter, with very uneven ground that consisted of moss covered boulders. Where there wasn't a boulder, there was either a wicked crack in the ground-deadly for anyone whose foot slipped-or thousand year old trees springing from the uncovered dirt. All around, not a good place for the coordinately challenged.

Emily was put in a group with a jaguar, Reepicheep the mouse, a minotaur, and a faun. Her group was to go west of the clearing, as far as the River Rush. As her group headed off, she shot Caspian a dirty look and grumbled under her breath.

"What?" I asked, perplexed at her outright display of displeasure toward the prince.

"Stupid princey boy, playing favorites and sending me off to the stupid river.." she grumbled.

"What do you mean?" I asked again.

"Well he's keeping _you_ here with _him _in _his_ group, but sending me off with a bunch of people I don't know. He's _obviously _playing favorites here." she said, still glaring at Caspian. I bit my lip to hold in my laughter.

"Is that what he's doing?" I snickered, my eyebrows raised. She turned her glare to me.

"Oh, it's all well and good for you, YOU get to stay here with pretty boy Pwince Cassssssssssspian! Bah! Americans!" and with that, she stormed off after her group, leaving me laughing in her wake.

"Maria," I heard someone say my name, and turned to see Caspian standing behind me, his sword drawn. For a half of a second, I thought he had heard the conversation and was going to go stab Emily in revenge. And then my thoughts went down the trail that that was about as likely as him throwing on a dress and doing the Can-Can with Trufflehunter.

"Uh, hi," I said to Caspian, coming out of my reverie and trying desperately not to burst into hyena-esque laughter.

"Hi," he said, staring at me like I was the one doing a classic dance with a talking badger. "I came to assign you your area to patrol."

"Right." I said, getting over the humor of the situation and going into serious mode.

He took my arm and guided me over to the western edge of the clearing, where Emily had just exited dramatically. "You will stay within this area," he said, indicating from the two large boulders that sat to the left of a natural made path into the clearing and to a particularly huge, moss covered tree. "Lay low and try and keep as quiet as you possibly can. If you see or hear anything, report to me immediately. Do not try and fend yourself off, for I know you cannot use your bow."

"Then what's the point of me having it?" I asked, my voice a slightly higher pitch from the fear that gripped me. What the heck was I doing there if I wasn't even going to pretend like I could defend myself?

Caspian smirked crookedly. "The Telmarines must think we know what we are doing, yes?"

No, Caspian, no. Wrong wrong wrong. But I didn't vocalize these thoughts, merely made some odd squeaking noise as he pushed me into place, telling me I'd be fine and some other empty reassurances before jogging over to his own area.

I looked behind me, to see where everyone was in the clearing. We were pretty well spaced out, Caspian being farthest from me and Asterius being closest. The minotaur nodded at me as he paced back and forth through the area he was assigned. I couldn't bring myself to nod back.

I started walking back and forth, my ears on high alert for any sounds that might tip me off to an ambush. It was after about half an hour I realized that there was nothing coming, and I grew bored and distracted and started trying to find ways to entertain myself.

Eventually, this turned into me climbing the larger of the two boulders I was stationed next to. The first couple of tries were unsuccessful, as the boulders were a lot slicker than I had realized, but I managed to inch my way up to the top very carefully. I reached the top and stood, balancing quite impressively on the uneven terrain of the boulder.

And then, from the vantage point I had, I saw them. Two people, a young girl and a teenage boy, crouching behind another set of boulders ten feet from my own, watching me from over the tops. Well, the girl was. The boy was too busy drawing his sword.

I was so stunned by the sight of Peter and Lucy Pevensie that I slipped on the moss coating of the boulder, falling down the side of the rock with a loud 'oof!' I landed rather painfully on my arm, twisting my wrist. Ouch.

Lucy gasped as I fell, but Peter.. laughed. Great first impression, Maria.

"STRANGER DANGER!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs, wiping the smile from his face.

"Shut up, I'm saving you!" he growled, stepping from around the boulder but staying low to the ground. I felt my brows crease in my confusion.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Peter was standing right in front of me now, and suddenly I was hyperaware of how grungy I looked. He grabbed my head and twisted it around so I was facing the clearing, where Asterius was storming around my area, clearly looking for me.

"The minotaur was coming at you like you were something it wanted to eat. I was coming to kill it and save you," Peter hissed, still gripping my face and looking at me hardly. I felt my anger flair. Super hot High King or not, he had no right to treat me like a five year old.

"Look, genius, he wasn't-" I began, but was cut off as Caspian sprang from over the top of the boulders with a cry, bringing his sword down at Peter's head. At the last second, Peter threw me behind him and brought his own sword up, blocking Caspian's blow and saving himself from decapitation. The two stood with their swords pressed so hard together a grating noise echoed through the clearing, before Caspian lowered his enough so he could grab Peter's arm and throw him off of him. Peter's arm was down for only a second before, with alarming force, he brought it back up in a backswing, aiming for Caspian's neck. Caspian madly ducked, looking an awful lot like a chicken as he did so, causing Peter's strong blow to go into the tree he had backed Caspian against. The blond king's eyes widened and he struggled fiercely to pull his sword from the bark of the tree, but before he could get it Caspian popped back up and kicked him in the stomach. Peter went flying backwards, landing with a thud on the ground, and while he was down Caspian struggled to pull Rhindon from the tree. Thinking quickly, Peter grabbed a large rock from the ground and jumped back up, preparing to whack Caspian over the head with it just as the Telmarine yanked Rhindon from the tree.

By this time, the rest of the guard patrol had heard the ruckus and made their way back into the clearing, gathering around the dueling teenagers with interested expressions. Lucy, seeing these were Narnians, sprang from her hiding place and cried out,

"No, stop!!!" drawing the attention of Peter and Caspian. Pointedly, she looked from Peter to the army, willing her brother to turn around. He did, and his vice grip on the rock loosened as he saw the many Narnians, standing in full armor watching the two spar.

"Prince Caspian?" he said, turning back to Caspian with a clouded expression. I swear, Caspian held his head a little higher.

"Yes? And who are you?" he asked sneeringly.

"Peter!" a girl's voice shouted sharply, drawing everyone's attention back to where Lucy and I stood. I turned and saw the two middle Pevensie children, Susan and Edmund, followed by a dwarf with a flaming red beard, coming from the forest to stand at the top of the boulders, next to Lucy.

Caspian looked down at the sword he was holding in his hand. "High King Peter," he said as realization dawned on him.

Peter, also, held his head higher. "I believe you called." he said, sounding like someone who thought they were much more important than they actually were. I heard my skeptical snort.

"Well, yes, but I was expecting someone.. older." Caspian replied, giving Peter the up-and-down look high school girls give each other. Peter's expression changed to one that he would have had had he been sucking on a lemon.

"Well if you like, we can leave and just come back in a few years." he said, turning to his siblings and communicating with them silently, his expression bitter. I looked to the others to see them wearing similar expressions, and felt rude having seen the exchange.

"No!" Caspian said, a hint of panic in his voice. "It's just.. You're not exactly what I was expecting." he said, looking over the Pevensie's with guarded eyes. That is, until he came to Susan, when everyone could very easily read what he was thinking through his expression. I saw Peter tense up, his eyes narrowed angrily as he looked between the prince and his blushing sister. Uh oh. Tension is high here in Narnia.

"Neither are you," Edmund said, speaking for the first time. Oh boy, Emily is probably pissing herself right now. Wait a second, Emily…?

"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes," came the calm voice of Trufflehunter the badger. I only barely heard him, though. I was too busy standing on my tip toes, frantically searching the clearing for any signs of Emily. Curse my shortness. Curse her shortness, too, because even if she was there, she wouldn't be spotable above the heads of the Narnians.

"We have anxiously awaited your return, My Liege. Our hearts and swords are at your service." Reepicheep said, stepping forward and bowing to Peter. I was jumping up and down at this point, desperately searching the crowds for Emily.

"Are you alright, Maria?" Caspian asked, sounding amused. I stopped jumping and looked to see him and everyone else watching me making and idiot of myself, including Peter. He was watching me through curious blue eyes, his head cocked to the side. It was like looking at the sun, that's how blindingly hot he was.

I turned back to Caspian to stop myself from drooling over Peter. "Where's Emily?"

Caspian's eyes widened and he looked around the clearing almost as frantically as I had. From somewhere next to me, I heard Susan ask,

"Who are Maria and Emily?"

"I'm Maria," I said, waving in the general direction I knew her to be in but still looking around the Narnians, feeling could fear wash over me. What happened to Emily?

"Do you know what patrol group she was in?" asked Caspian, turning back to me.

"The one that went west, towards the river," I replied, still looking around.

"Oh, no," Edmund groaned from the other side of Lucy. I rounded on him.

"What?" I demanded.

"Is she kinda short, brownish blondish hair, tan, brown eyes?" he asked, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Yes! You've seen her?"

"Uhh…"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Review if you're out there! :D**

**~Gabby and Jordi**


	5. Chapter 5

**hahahHelloo Cookies!!**

**Jordi here !!**

**Okay, so soonish, pretty sure Gabby and I will be writing chappies together, instead of one by one, its just that they always seem longer!!**

**I'm hoping everyone is loving this story as much as we love writing it!!**

**SO…REVIEW!!**

**PLEASE.**

**Here we goo…**

* * *

I grumbled under my breath as I trudged towards the sound of the River Rush. Oh yeah, it was rushing all right.

Prince Caspian was pissing me off. Sure, leave Maria safe and sound with the big intimidating minotaur and warrior Prince, I'd be right with tiny little Reepicheep.

NOT that he wasn't any less of a warrior, of course, but I was trying to be brave..

Reepicheep called our group together, and I pulled out my daggers. I was being really tender with them, seeing as I had a massive scar across my knuckles from when I accidently cut myself with a hunting knife when I was five.

I was trying to sharpen a pencil.

I stared at the shiny steel, watching the sun shine off of it. I saw the spot of light, and shifted the knife, moving the spot around to rest on the fauns face, where he winced, but didn't realise where the light was coming from.

I snickered, watching the faun scrunch up his face as he attempted to concentrate on Reepicheep.

"Lady Emily!" Reepicheeps voice snapped me out of my mischievous trance.

"Could you please stop trying to blind my group member and listen?"

"Sorry." I said quickly, and made a 'serious' face. Mostly I looked like a horse, with my lips jutted out.

Reepicheep nodded at me and continued talking. He was yabbering on about splitting up, and suddenly he pointed at me, and then in a southern direction.

"Follow the river, but stay hidden in the trees," the tiny mouse ordered. I saluted, and the group looked at me confusedly. I stuttered for a second before stumbling off along my pointed path.

I strolled along for about twenty minutes, before a thought struck me.

I wasn't supposed to keep walking. I was supposed to be on duty.

I had been aimlessly walking in a straight line for half an hour, and now I had no clue where I was.

Shitsticks.

"Dammit!" I hissed, and a branch snapped near me. I frowned, and crept as silently as I was able up to a cluster of trees. I edged right up them, where I saw a smouldering campfire, with a dwarf and a teenage girl, maybe a year or so older than me, asleep beside it. I edged forward even more.

Suddenly, I felt a hand over my mouth, and saw a dagger beside my head.

"Telmarine!" the voice hissed venomously. I tried to turn my head, but all I caught was a shock of dark dark hair, a pale freckled face and brown eyes that I recognised instantly.

Oh damn. I was being attacked by Edmund Pevensie.

I struggled again, and I felt him move, before I saw the dagger pull back, and felt the agonising pain of the butt to hit my temple, before everything went black.

*****************

My head was killing me. Throb Throb Throb.

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I winced again as I began to move my body, feeling the rough ground underneath me, as my head pounded along with my movement. I raised a hand to my temple.

Owwww.

I was going to have a bruise. As I slid my hand down my face, I felt a wet substance, and a sting of pain. I had a small cut on my cheekbone, probably from when I fell.

The memories of my attack all came flooding back, and I groaned.

I was going to kill that boy.

No one knocks me out and gets away with it.

I leant my hands against the ground and pushed up, propelling my body into a sitting position. Bad mistake. My head swirled, and the ground rose up to meet my head again. I reached out my hand, and felt the trunk of a tree. I pulled myself onto it, tugging my body weakly so I was leaning on the tree. I opened my eyes again, wincing at the afternoon light, (how long had it been..?) and the continuous throbbing in my head.

I let out another groan, and closed my eyes, placing a hand on my head to try and stop the throbbing.

"Here, I found her!" I heard a boys shout, and my eyes flickered open to see those lovely brown eyes staring at me intently, the shock of dark hair resting over them.

"Are you okay..?" Edmund asked. I closed my eyes again, and I heard him back away as a few pairs off running footsteps approached.

"Oh my God!" I heard Maria shout, "Em!" I grudgingly opened my heavily lids when I felt my friends hand on my arm.

"Are you okay?" Maria fussed. I saw Caspian and another blonde boy step forward at the same time as if to help, and they glanced at eachother, before both returning to their places.

"Oh, for Christs sake, will one of you losers help me up?" I moaned, and I heard Maria chuckle. Both boys moved forward, and gripped my arms, helping me to my unsteady feet as the world went blurry again.

"Oh, well done Ed," said a young girls voice, "You've given her concussion!"

I grimaced again, and heard Maria's voice.

"Maybe we should get her back to the How, check she doesn't have brain damage or something."

"How could we check that in Narnia?" I heard Peter ask.

"I don't bleeping know, just do something..!" Maria snapped.

"Well, I do want to study medicine…" Peter sighed.

"Oh, really?" Maria asked, obviously getting caught up in his looks. I had my eyes closed and I could tell that.

"Yeah, I'm seriously considering it.." Peter said, really getting into the conversation.

"So where were you looking to study…?" Maria asked, but I stopped Peter from answering.

"Could someone bloody just get me back?!" I yelled, swaying in the boys grip. I was really dizzy.

"Sorry dude." Maria whispered.

"She can't walk," a voice pointed out. Susan, I guessed.

To prove her point I lost my balance completely. It sucked, being dizzy. You can't help but to fall over when the world tilts.

I heard pattering footsteps and Trufflehunters calming voice.

"Sleep, Lady Emily. We'll get you back."

"Finally, someone with a brain…" I sighed, and closed my eyes.

******************

When I came to again, I felt my body swaying.

And then I realised my feet weren't on the ground.

My eyes snapped open to reveal trees, trees all around me, moving back and forth steadily as the person that was carrying me walked.

My head was lolled backwards at an awkward angle, and my neck was killing me. I rolled it back, sucking in a deep breath, trying to focus on one thing so the dizziness would stop for a little while.

I turned my neck to look at my carrier-person, expecting Caspian.

Instead I got that shock of dark hair, and those gorgeous brown eyes…

I let out a shriek and flinched as if to get out of his hold.

And guess what he did?

HE DROPPED ME.

As I sat flat on my ass in the dirt, we just stared at eachother for a second. He seemed shocked of mine and his own reaction.

"You're an asshole." I nodded, and he frowned.

"Hey, I just carried you all this way," he began, but I wasn't done.

"Yeah, after you..lets see…knocked me out, gave me concussion and laughed at me!"

"Well maybe, if you weren't so damn tanned, I wouldn't have mistaken you for a Telmarine!" Edmund yelled, and the group walking started looking at us.

I laughed loudly. "I'm from Australia, idiot! I spend ALL my time in the sun! Unlike your pale ass!"

"I'm from England!" he cried, "It rains all the time, plus we're in war!"

"Excuse's excuses!" I screamed.

Maria's voice cut into our argument.

"Um, guys…are you arguing over tanning destinations?"she giggled, and I heard Peter snicker beside her.

Edmund and I both sent them death stares, before turning our glares back to eachother. We both opened our mouths at the same time, to recommence our argument, but stopped.

I frowned.

"What were we arguing about?" Edmund asked.

"That's an excellent question." I said, thinking hard.

There was silence for a second as all the group stared at us, Peter and Maria obviously barely containing laughter.

And then Maria totally broke the ice. In a bad way.

"_It must be love, love love, nothing more, nothing less, love is the best…"_

The death stare I sent her could've burnt through a wall. I glanced at Edmund, and was shocked to find him blushing, which made me blush, which made Maria blush and glance at Peter, who blushed and looked a Susan, who was blushing and looking at Caspian, who was blushing and looked at Trumpkin, who was staring at us like we were the biggest idiots in Narnia.

Which we kind of were.

Everyone sort of gathered themselves up and turned back to keep walking.

I managed to get on my knees, but as soon as I did I swayed again. Dizziness sucked.

Oh, I wonder how I could have gotten dizzy, I thought sarcastically. I stared at the leavy ground, taking deep breaths. I heard footsteps approaching, and saw a hand extend. Finally, Maria was going to help me.

I took the hand and felt myself pulled strongly around her shoulders. Okay, scratch that, I didn't remember Maria being so bloody tall. With short hair.

I looked up to see Edmund smirking above me.

"It looked like you needed some help," he laughed, and I scowled.

"Not from my attacker." I hissed, and pushed myself off of him. I took a few steps forward, before once again the ground swirled up to meet my face.

I heard his small laugh before I felt his hands helping me up again.

"I am sorry for attacking you, I really did think you were a Telmarine." Edmund said slowly as he helped me up. I nodded through the thumping in my head, and took a few steps. I had to stop though, the dizziness was too much. Edmund sighed.

"Sorry again," he said.

"What for?" I asked quietly as I rested.

"This," he said, before slinging me on his back. I yelled at him to put me down, but he just told me to shut up. I knew he was right, I couldn't possibly walk.

We travelled in silence for a while, so far behind the rest of the group because of our little argument.

"Can I ask you a question?" Edmund finally said, and for once he sounded gentle. I didn't want to argue with him.

"Sure," I said over his shoulder.

"What was it like for you? You know, coming into Narnia?" he asked. I frowned, trying to remember. But everything seemed hazy, blurry to me.

"I was in a hotel room…reading a book…" I muttered. I shook my head. "I can't remember!"

"Really?" Edmund asked, and I nodded, totally forgetting he couldn't see my face.

"What about you?' I asked.

"We were going to bording school," Edmund said, reminiscing. "At a train station. Bloody Peter had just gotten into another fight, and I'd helped him.."

Something stirred in my memory, but I had no idea what it was.

"We were waiting for the train with Lucy and Susan, and then something go us off the bench, and things went all weird, and there was a train, and we walked out of the station and were in a cave, back home."

"Home?"

"Yes." Edmund said quietly. "Narnia is home." I nodded. Narnia was a beautiful place.

I looked up ahead and saw Aslan's How in the distance.

"That's it!" I squealed, pointing.

"That's where the army is?" Edmund asked.

"Yep." I replied, and he seemed to speed up a bit.

"We should probably catch up to the others, for your grand entrance," I snickered.

I slapped his back. "C'mon horsey!" I yelled. I heard him chuckle and I swaer I heard him mutter, 'my name is Phillip.' I slapped his back again.

"Giddy Up!" I laughed, and he shook his head at me. So I decided to be bold. Take desperate measures.

I reached down and slapped his butt.

Edmund jumped, and I slapped his back.

"Faster, horsey!" I screamed childishly, and he seemed to play along. He began to run, me jolting and giggling around on his back, until we caught up to Peter and Maria.

Peter saw Edmunds immature face, and frowned.

"Grow up Ed." He said, and Maria and I exchanged a look.

I sighed. "C'mon, Eddie, let me down," I said, and he helped me off his back, but immediately slung my arm around his shoulder to support me as my head swam.

"Emily?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"Don't ever call me Eddie." He said hardly.

So naturally I turned to him and snickered.

"Oh, shut it, Eddie." I smirked.

Edmund groaned at me, before we kept going to reach Aslan's How.

*******************

**There we go!**

**I have escaped from the wrath of my slavedriver, who has been egging me on through facebook this whole time!**

**Thanks Gabs!**

**And Jessie, you are awesome :)**

**PLEASE REVIEW.**


	6. Chapter 6

***Chapter 6***

**Halloooo. This be Gabby and Jordi. As Jordi said, we shall now be writing our chappies together as one so as to avoid unnecessary length and confusion. At least, until we get to the action. Heeheehee..**

**Anywho, as per usual, reviews would be greatly appreciated. We know y'all are out there, leave us a shout out! They make our day.**

**Now enjoy the epicness of EPIC!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **

**Maria-**

I approached the How in between Peter and Lucy, who was chatting away about Narnia and how much fun we were going to have together, as a faun somewhere ahead of us blew a horn, alerting our return. I watched as the centaur regiment lined up along the sides of the entrance to the How, holding their swords in a saluting position. We drew closer and closer to the ancient stone arena of sorts, which stood in front of the How, accompanied by the sounds of Edmund and Emily's relentless flirting from somewhere behind us.

Well it was easy enough for her. She was outgoing, and anyways her King wasn't stubborn as a mule and, to be quite frank, rude. I huffed angrily, then sighed. Obviously, he wasn't going to be the one to make the first move here, and anyways it was my job to teach him how to be young. Aslan knows he needed it.

So, with that thought process in mind, I turned to him and said, "I want to thank you, and apologize."

He looked down at me, a confused expression marring his gorgeous features. "What do you mean?"

"For back in the clearing. I want to thank you for looking out for me. And apologize for getting pissed off at you for looking out for me. You didn't know Asterius was a good guy."

His expression clears, and he shrugs. "Well, it's my job as a King. I'm supposed to defend Narnians. You were seemingly in trouble, so I reacted on impulse." he answered. Then his lips turned up in a smirk, and he added jokingly, "Besides, you can't blame me for thinking he was an enemy. It's not every day you see a rather small teenage girl on patrol with a fully armed Minotaur."

I laughed and felt appreciative he was making an effort to be sociable. Then, from somewhere behind me, I heard a rather painful sounding smack and a yelp, and turned to see Emily thwacking Edmund on the butt, riding on his back as he piggy-backed her through the arena.

"Faster, horsy!" Emily cried, laughing joyously as Edmund sped up and made neighing sounds. From beside me, Peter sighed in a frustrated manner.

"Grow up, Ed." he snapped to his younger brother, who stopped in his tracks with a look of hurt shock on his face. I looked at Emily, whose face mirrored my expression of unease.

"Come on, Eddie, let me down." she said, and he did, but grabbed her arm and slung it around her shoulders so she wouldn't fall. I bit my lip, trying to hide my smile. The attraction was already evident between those two..

I turned back to where I was walking and found myself at the beginning of the trail into the How. Peter and Lucy were a foot or so ahead of me, along with Susan. I heard someone come stand by my side, and looked to see Caspian looking down at me with a smile.

"Hello," I said, smiling back up at him.

"Hello, Maria." he said back, before turning to the Pevensie's and Emily, who were now departing for the How as the centaurs held their swords above their heads. Caspian's smile faded as he watched them.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I did not make such a good impression with High King Peter.." he said, gnawing his lip worriedly. I turned and watched the retreating form of the blond king, also, and sighed.

"I'm afraid I didn't either. But hey, with you he kind of instigated the whole thing, you really didn't do anything wrong." I said. The five had disappeared, swallowed up by the dark shadows of the entrance of the How, and Caspian and I were now proceeding forward.

"I am afraid he does not think along the same lines." Caspian sighed.

"Well if he does, it's not your problem. Don't beat yourself up over it." I said, and he smiled warmly down at me.

"Alright, I will try not to." he said as we entered the How, and I felt myself bump into something, or rather someone.

"Try not to what?" Peter said, looking between me and Caspian curiously.

"Try not to almost get himself killed by confused High Kings of Old, of course." I said quickly, winking at Caspian.

"I wasn't confused, I had it sorted," Peter said, his eyes narrowing and chest puffing forward defiantly. His expression dared me to challenge him. Which I would have, had Susan not barged in.

"Peter! You may want to see this." she cried, emerging from the shadows of one of the dark tunnels of the How. The three of us followed her into a corridor, whose walls were covered with what appeared to be the Narnian version of cave paintings. Lucy, Edmund and Emily, the latter of which was still leaning on the youngest king, also stood in the corridor, looking at the paintings curiously. The paintings appeared to be a chronology of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Susan stood in front of one depicting the coronation of the four.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked curiously, looking around. Caspian stood up straighter next to me.

"You don't know?" he asked, before grabbing a torch and heading deeper into the tunnel.

The rest of us followed him until we reached a pitch black chamber. The light from the torches each of the boys held allowed us only a small view into the entrance of it, and all I could see was two stone troths at the side of the chamber, and a set of stairs a little ways in front of us. As we stood there, Caspian approached one of the troths and dipped his torch into it, transferring his fire into it and sending it shooting through the troth, which apparently ran through the whole chamber, lighting the place up. As the room came into view, we saw carvings of various Narnians on the walls, all looking down at a large stone slab which sat in the middle of the chamber. The slab was cracked, and covered in an impossibly thick layer of dust, and had some sort of ancient writing along the length of it. It radiated an ancient power older than Time itself.

Then I saw, directly across from where I stood in the front of the chamber, a huge carving of Aslan himself, looking down sadly at what I knew to be the Stone Table. I suddenly felt much older than I really was, and realized I was feeling the thousands of years of Narnian oppression and Aslan's pain pile on my shoulders. Tears pricked my eyes as I stepped forward, laying a hand on the Stone Table.

From somewhere behind me, I heard footsteps, and turned to see Lucy come and stand next to me, her eyes clouded with memories of a long ago Narnia, a Narnia 1,300 years in the past.

"He must know what he's doing." she whispered softly, turning to Susan. I looked at the Gentle Queen to see her blue eyes misty as they gazed first at her younger sister, then at Aslan's carving.

"I think it's up to us now." Peter said in a wavering voice that pierced through the nostalgic atmosphere better than Rhindon could have, bringing us all back to the present. I felt eyes on me, and turned to see Emily staring at me with sad eyes. I could tell she was feeling the burden of the Great Lion, also, and knew this had to do with us being the Bringers of Youth. We were somewhat of assistants to Aslan, and therefore apparently were to feel his pain.

Lightly put, Narnia had a big booboo. A booboo that had gone too long without protection, and had gotten infected. And we were each part of the band aid. We just had to get ourselves together, disinfectant and all, and protect Narnia before the infection spread and killed it.

Hours later, Emily and I sat, checking her head wound. Luckily, she didn't appear to have any major damage, and was finally able to walk on her own again without getting dizzy. The cut on her forehead had healed nicely, and other than a slight headache, she felt fine. Grant it, it took some time for her to convince me, but eventually she did.

Our dressed had finally been finished, and we were just emerging from the armory, having changed into them. They were both two pieces with ankle length skirts and tough leather bodices, very similar in looks. Emily's skirt was forest green with a lighter section and mine was an autumn leaf orange colour. We had also managed to brush and arrange our hair, mine into a twisted style similar to what Susan had done with hers, only wavy, and Emily's was plaited with strains coming down to frame her face.

Suddenly, we heard frantic bleating and hoofbeats, and looked to see a platinum blond faun burst into the How, his face stricken with panic.

"Beach bum Tumnus?" I whispered to Emily, who snorted with laughter.

Glenstorm, however, was serious. "What is it, Maurvun?" he asked, his voice terse.

"Alert their Ma-ah-ah-jesties! Telmarine in the woods! A spy! He knows of our ca-ah-ah-ah-mp!" the frantic faun wailed, still bleating like a goat in his fright.

I felt the blood rush from my face. Oh, shit. Emily and I exchanged horrified looks before taking off as fast as we could for the chamber with the Stone Table, which we knew the monarchs were.

As we burst into the chamber, drawing the attention of the five, we both shouted our warnings at them at the same time, overpowering each other.

"Stranger danger!"

"The Telmarines are coming! The Telmarines are coming!"

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

**Emily-**

"Stranger Danger!"

"The Telmarines are coming! The Temlmarines are coming!"

Automatically I looked at Maria, laughing.

"Stranger Danger?" I giggled, and she blushed.

"It was the first thing that popped into my head!" she replied. We turned back to the Pevensies, who were sitting and staring at us with bemused looks on their faces.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a little…" Peter began, frowning at us.

"Special?" Maria suggested.

"Awesome covered in epicsauce?" I threw in, and Maria smirked at me.

"Strange." Peter finished. I heard Edmun chuckle.

"That's for sure," he muttered, glancing at me. I skipped over to him.

"What was that, Eddie?" I said threatingly. He backed away as I advanced slowly, my hands outstretched.

"Er…er…" he stuttered as I got closer.

"Wrong…answer!" I squealed as I leapt on him, tackling him to the ground before tickling him mercilessly. He gasped for air, laughing so hard as I tickled him horribly. But somehow the tables turned. He flipped me over so I was on my back and tickled me nearly insane. He seemed to know EXACTLY where my ticklish spots were, and I was squealing. As we rolled around like four year olds, laughing our heads off, I caught a glimpse of everyone else faces.

Maria looked amused, Susan and Caspian looked happy, and Lucy looked excited.

But Peter looked downright pissed off.

"EDMUND!" he bellowed, and we froze.

Maria was staring at him angrily.

"Peter, they were just having a little fun," Maria said quietly.

"In the middle of a war!" Peter yelled at her. Maria stared right back, and I could tell she was angry.

"At least he isn't acting like a grownup all the time!" she shouted. Ed stood up, and pulled me to my feet.

"Well, someone has to!" Peter roared at Maria, but she wasn't done. Something in her had snapped.

"Why does it have to be you?!" she screeched, and strode from the room in a flurry of anger and as I suspected, tears.

I looked after her for a second, before realizing Peter was glaring at Edmund.

"YOU NEED TO GROW UP!" Peter yelled, and Ed flinched. "Be serious, Edmund! For once in your life, think about others!" Edmund bowed his head, subjecting.

I didn't get it. If it were me, I'd be yelling right back. Peter was wrong.

And then Peter turned his glare to me.

"This is all your fault!" he yelled, pointing at me.

"Peter!" Susan gasped.

"You've made him like a little child, like he was before!" Peter accused me, and I was shocked, and a bit hurt. I saw Ed's jaw clench.

"You can't-" I began, but Peter didn't give me a chance like he did Maria.

"Stay away from my brother." Peter said slowly. I felt my mouth open. Ed still had his head down, so he didn't see my look, needing support. I turned my gaze back to Peter.

"You're not my King." I said, and swept from the room after my friend. I heard yelling behind us, but I couldn't be bothered to try and figure out whose voice was whose.

I was really angry.

Furious in fact.

I strolled into the nearest room I could find, tripping over the bloody skirt on the way. I pulled it up around my knees, so I could walk properly. It was frigging annoying, and I missed the easily manoeuvrable comfort of my footy shorts back home.

I opened the door, and found Maria sitting on her makeshift bed, a piece of parchment in her hand, which she was ripping into a million pieces.

She turned around when I entered, and I could tell she had cooled down.

However, she must have been doing the same assessment as me, and could see the anger in my eyes.

"What happened?" she asked, coming over to me.

"Peter…" I said slowly, trying not to burst with anger, "_Forbade_ me from seeing Edmund."

"WHAT?!" Maria screeched.

"I know!"

"What'd you say back?" Maria asked, making me sit down.

"I told him he wasn't my king." I said, and she laughed.

That was about when I burst into tears. Before I knew it, Maria was hugging me, shushing me.

"Why are you crying?" she asked, rubbing my back gently.

"Because, Ed did nothing! He just…subjected…" I sobbed.

"God, Peter's being an ass…" Maria hissed, obviously thinking about how much she wanted to kick his ass…

"I know," I sniffed, "You have a lot of work ahead of you."

Maria shrugged.

"You don't seem to," she snickered, and I cracked a smile.

"That's because Edmund really is young…he is just pressured by Peter, and his past…"

"Yeah, I know." Maria agreed.

"And I have no clue what to do about it." I said bluntly, staring off into space with a frown.

"And that sucks." Maria said.

"And that sucks." I agreed.

We made our way out to sit on the ledge near the top of the How, mostly because I needed some fresh air. The whole cave/tunnel/enclosed space thing was creeping me out. Once again, I tripped over the stupid skirt.

We sat down against the wall, me keeping my eyes firmly on the horizon. I was terrified of heights, but this was the only safe place we could go outside. Maria sat forward, hanging her feet over the edge.

I, however, sat back against the wall, my short legs not even reaching the edge. We sat in silence for a while, both pondering on our situations, and what our plans of action were going to be.

All of a sudden, we heard light footsteps, and Lucy edged out onto the ledge. When she caught sight of us, she smiled and sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness!" the little girl cried, "We've been looking all over for you two!"

I smiled at her.

" 'we' doesn't include Peter, does it?" Maria stated for than asked. Lucy made a face.

"Oh, no…he's just being silly." Lucy said, frowning.

"It doesn't include Edmund either, does it?" I asked.

But this time Lucy giggled. "Well, actually, Ed was the one that was looking for you, Emily." I felt my jaw drop, and I heard Maria clap in delight.

"Really?" I felt myself ask.

"Of course!" Lucy squealed, and I beamed. "And Peter is requesting everyone in the Stone Table Room."

"Does that include us?" Maria whined.

"Yes, Maria. And just ignore Peter." I said, still smiling.

"Its alright for you!" Maria cried, "Edmund is civil!"

"Thanks…" we heard a deep voice say, and Edmund stepped out onto the ledge. They were all so close to the edge, and I stepped back, pressing myself back against the wall. I was not going to risk it.

Maria and Lucy went back inside, and Edmund walked towards me.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"What for?" I asked sarcastically. "For leaving your brother to scream at me, or for almost tickling me to death?"

"Both." Ed smiled, and I felt myself smiling along with him.

I pressed my back closer to the stone wall.

"Are you alright?" Edmund asked.

"Just a…heights…" I said through my teeth.

"Then why'd you come out here?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I needed fresh air. An open space." I said, deciding to look at him instead of down.

"I understand." He smiled, before standing up. He pulled me to my feet, and I blushed when he didn't let go of my hand.

But I wasn't exactly happy when he pushed me towards the edge of the cliff.

"What are you doing?" I shrieked.

"Curing you." He laughed, before grabbing my waist, and holding me out over the edge.

"Ed, ed, no, please, c'mon, pull me back!" I cried, and I could almost hear him smirk.

"Nope…" he chuckled, but gripped my waist tighter so I felt more secure. "Open your eyes, Emily," I heard him say, and for some strange reason, I did as he said.

And suddenly I wasn't scared anymore.

And then I burst out laughing.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm having a Titanic moment." I giggled, and I wished Maria was here. And suddenly I had to do it.

"I'M QUEEN OF THE WORLD!" I yelled, and I heard Edmunds laugh as he pulled me back.

I thumped against his chest, and turned around so I was looking up at him. He smiled down at me, and I swore we had a moment. He started to lean down a little, and my heart sped up…

That was until I heard Maria's voice, totally screwing the moment.

"Nearrrrrr, farrrrrrrr, whereevvvvvvvverrrr you are, I know, that my heart will go on…."

Edmund and I turned to look at my crooning friend, my eyes wide.

I was going to kill her.

**Okay, so Jordi here. **

**Hope you liked!**

**REVIEW XD**


	7. Chapter 7

*Chapter 7*

**Hello dearies! Gabby and Jordi here. So sorry for the long wait! It's Gabby's turn to write and she's been super busy with schoolwork and such, they decided they were going to swamp us with homework on our first full week back.**

**Anywho, thanks go out to all our readers, but especially our reviewers! Y'all mean the world to us.**

**Now enjoy EPIC**

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**Maria-**

I turned from the horrified face of Emily and skipped merrily into the How, humming the rest of 'My Heart Will Go On' as I went. I made my way through the tunnel into the chamber with the Stone Table, and was greeted by the sound of arguing voices. I felt my cheerful mood evaporate like Harry Potter fans at a Twilight convention(Team Cedric!) and slowed into a regular walk, the tune I was humming dying on my lips.

The stone troth lining the chamber was lit with fire, and torches were hung on the walls and being held by various Narnians. These and other Narnians were scattered throughout the chamber, some standing, some sitting, all looking morose. Lucy, who had gotten into the How before I had, was perched on the Stone Table, drawing circles on the ancient slab with an anxiously thoughtful expression on her face. She glanced up at me as I entered, and smiled as she saw me, but it was a tight smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. I returned one, only mine was also less natural.

Peter and Caspian stood between the Stone Table and the carving of Aslan on the wall, their heads bowed in a heated conversation. I could tell it was heated because Caspian's brows were furrowed tightly over his black eyes, and his jaw was locked tightly. Peter's back was to me, so I couldn't see his facial expression, but his back was ramrod straight and his shoulders were squared. I approached the two of them, feeling the tension in the air thicken as I got closer to them. I stopped behind Peter and cleared my throat loudly.

Caspian looked around Peter at me, his brows still furrowed, but his expression became less tense and he offered me a small smile. Peter, however, didn't turn until Caspian pointedly said,

"Hello, Maria."

And I really wish he hadn't said anything at all. I'm sure Peter was thinking the same thing, seeing as he had adamantly refused to acknowledge me to begin with and clearly was dreading the moment of our reunion, and he turned slowly around to me. As our eyes met, the chocolate brown of mine with the crystal blue of his, a spark of electricity jolted between us. I felt a dull anger throb in the back of my mind as I gazed up at his beautifully chiseled face, that perfect nose, those perfect lips. Gosh, he's too beautiful. And it was really pissing me off.

I saw his eyes soften and then darken, and he was suddenly not able to meet my gaze. I exhaled loudly and pointedly, drawing his attention again. Good. The bastard should be looking at me.

He tentatively spoke. "Hello, Maria."

I nodded curtly at him, then smiled warmly at Caspian. "Peter. Heya, Caspian."

Caspian watched almost gleefully as Peter shrank back from the coldness of my tone towards him and the joy with wich I spoke to the prince. Vaguely, I wondered about this. But at the moment, my blood pressure was rising in anger towards the blond that stood in front of me, my mind replaying the earlier incidents that had taken place. I wanted to punch that pretty face of his to a pulp.

"Look, Maria, I.. I don't think either of us behaved very maturely earlier. And I wanted.. To apologize. I'm sorry." Peter said sheepishly, a small blush colouring his face.

I felt myself calm a little. That was unexpected, and very un-Peterish of him. He be being sincere.

"Alright, but it's not an apology I want, it's an improvement. Promise me you'll try and work on your anger and over maturity?" I asked.

"I'll try." Peter said, slightly begrudgingly.

"Good boy." I patted his head, and he gave me another strange look.

"You're not like other girls, you know," he said, staring at me. I almost melted in the intensity of his hotness.

"Oh, I know. It's my aim in life. To be different, you know?" I said happily, and he just kept staring. But it got to the point where I didn't know if he was staring like, 'ohmygosh she's so amazing' or, 'ohmygosh, wtf'. It was kinda hard to tell.

So I followed Emily's example and looked on the Brightside. I went with the amazing option.

Caspian, the little idiot, cleared his throat, and it seemed to snap Peter out of his little trance and back into their whispered argument. I cocked my ear, listening in.

"It's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" Caspian hissed, and I realized the Telmarine Prince must have gotten over his…well, not fear…more like…respect…for Peter.

"Look, Caspian. I've been in many wars in my time…" Peter whispered, and I couldn't help but picture some ancient old man sitting in a rocking chair, giving a rant something like, "Now look here, sonny, back in my day…"As soon as I pictured that, I let out a loud snort, causing everyone to look at me. Again.

I should really try to work on my ability to withhold snorts.

There was a moment of silence while I reflected on this, and I realized Peter, too was staring at me. I stared right back. Damn…why did he have to aggravate me so much?

"Look," Caspian was saying quietly, "Edmund is a King too. Why don't we ask him what he thinks?"

Peter nodded strongly, so strongly it looked like his head was going to roll off. Anyone could see the anger that radiated off of him. Luckily, for once it WASN'T directed at me. Peter looked around the room, his jaw clenched to tightly I thought I heard a few teeth crack.

"Where's Edmund?" he demanded of the room, only to be met by silence and a few shrugs. I tentatively raised my hand, not sure what else to do.

"What, Maria?" Peter hissed, and I was seriously on the verge of giving him a mouthful back. But no, I thought. We'd just stopped fighting. The Magnificent High King of Old wouldn't apologise twice.

"Er…I'm pretty sure Edmund is outside…on the ledge." I said, and he turned to look along the passageway with a bit of shining light at the end. "With Emily." I added, and the blonde king whipped around to face me.

"With-what?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"With Em. He went to apologise for your behaviour." I said, confused. Why was he so angry?

"I never apologized to _her._" Peter said, stony looking.

I felt the breath whoosh out of my lungs as he hissed _her._ What had Em done? She was just trying to fufil her mission, and no way was I going to let a stubborn ass boy, king or not, bag out my best friend.

"What did you say?" I asked, and was surprised to her Caspian at the same time, asking the same words, in the same furious tone.

"I said," Peter said menacingly, stepping forward, "I didn't apologise to her."

"Why the hell not?!" I shrieked, over his attitude to everything, and especially, my best friend.

"Have you _seen_ what she's doing to my brother?" Peter yelled back.

"Yes! She's giving him life! Loosening him up!" I bellowed. He was not going to get to me.

"YES! LOOSENING HIM UP! LIKE LAST TIME!" Peter roared, and I laughed.

"What do you mean, like last time?" I cried.

"Last time he was immature like this, the White Witch nearly killed all of us!" Peter said, and I shut up. I could see what he meant, but it was still unfair. Edmund had changed. He was older, wiser. He wouldn't do that again.

"What kind of brother are you?" I shouted in his face. I think I may have spat a little, but I didn't care. He deserved it. "You pull him into fights back home, and here too! You act like a caring and trusting brother, but underneath you don't trust him at all! What is wrong with you, Peter?" I was shocked to find tears falling from my eyes. We were having it out in front of an entire room, after all, and it was killing me.

I really wanted things to be great between us, but he was so damn stubborn…!

"What's going on?" said a quiet voice, and we all turned to see the tiny Emily, standing in the hallway with a frozen Edmund. Their hands were intertwined, and from the look on Ed's face I could see they had heard everything.

"I'm over this, Peter, I really am." I finished with a flourish, and turned away from him, trying to hide my tears from everyone. I glanced at Emily, who was looking up at Edmund in concern. His face was stony, and she looked worried as hell.

Edmund had his eyes fixed on Peter, who was looking full of regret. Towards Edmund, me and even Emily.

"Ed.." he began, and Edmund swallowed. I saw his hand tighten on Emily.

Good, at least he was using her for support. But then, my heart nearly broke when he released her hand and strode away. I saw her face crumble, and she looked to the floor. She glanced up the hallway behind her, ready to follow, but decided against it when Susan and Lucy ran after their brother, Peter right behind them. This was a family deal. Emily took a deep breath, and lifted her head. She had a fake-ass smile plastered on her face as she strolled over to us.

Caspian cleared his throat.

"I believe this meeting is over. We...we shall get back to you." He said, and the room slowly cleared. I sat down on the Stone Table, Emily beside me, and Caspian on her other side.

"Well, what now?" Emily asked, and I looked at her before bursting out laughing.

"What?" she asked before cracking a smile at my hysterics.

"Th-they were right! Som-sometimes theres nothing to do but laugh!" I choked as I howled with laughter. Soon Emily had joined in, and even Caspian had cracked a smile.

"Maria, you are so weird." Emily giggled.

I laughed even harder, and through the laughter I didn't hear the footsteps coming back along the corridor. For some reason Caspian jumped up, pulling Emily to her feet as well, and jogging through a different passage. I saw the reason why, when Peter strolled back into the room.

"I did it again, didn't I," he said, taking a seat beside me. I raised my eyebrows.

"I'm really sorry, Maria. Something about you makes me want to go insane."

Okay, so no joke, I was swooning right about now. I mean, Peter Pevensie…swoon…

"I don't mind you going insane," I sniffed, "It's good sport."

Peter smiled slightly, and my heart sped up when he casually draped his arm around me.

"Its nice to have friends like you, you know," he said.

DAMMIT.

Friends?!

"Friends?" I said, my forehead creasing up. Peter looked down, obviously on the verge of declaring his love for me. I crossed my fingers….

"Just friends. I really really like you, Maria, but…I don't have time for a girlfriend."

I was dumbstruck.

"What?"

"I'm High King," he said, sounding like all pompous asshole again. "I'm the most important person here. And that job has to be done by someone mature. Me," he said, and I felt my jaw drop.

"So…" I contemplated, really pissed off at him, AGAIN, "I'm too immature. For you. The most important person." I finished, so fed up with his crap.

He nodded.

"Well," I said, knocking his arm off me and standing up, "You can take your ego, Peter Pevensie, and shove it right up your kingly ass."

And with a dramatic exit worthy of Emily, I walked from the room.

EMILY-

Caspian yanked me from the room as we heard footsteps. It was just a hunch, but if Peter was coming to aplogise again, we weren't going to stop him. I was tired of all this fighting.

We followed the corridor, and came out in the main chamber, where creatures of all kind were creating weapons. I had an idea.

"Hey, Caspian, tomorrow do you think you could teach me how to use my knives?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Sure." He announced in his Hispanic accent.

We strolled along aimlessly again, but I kept glancing around for any sign of Edmund. I was worried about him, so much, but I figured he didn't want me to see him, seeing as he HAD let go of my hand before, and just walked away without a word.

Caspian noticed my unease.

"I'm sure he isn't angry with you, Emily," he said reassuringly. He nodded, still worried. What if he never wanted to talk to me again?

I saw Lucy flit past, and grabbed her arm.

"Lucy-"I began, but she cut me off.

"Emily!" the little girl cried, "I think Edmund might want to speak to you. He said he'll be at the ledge."

I nodded quickly, and said goodbye to Caspian, before hurrying along the corridor, tripping over my dress several times. Bloody thing.

I edged out onto the ledge, even more scared than usual, seeing as it was pitch black and I couldn't see the edge. I took a deep breath and pressed close to the wall, having a major freak out.

"Why here?" I moaned, and was surprised to hear Edmunds voice cut through the darkness.

"Because I'm like you. I need fresh air." I exhaled with relief.

"Uh…Ed? Kinda having a major freakout right about now…" I breathed, absolutely terrified. I heard a scraping noise of him getting up, and footsteps.

"Here Em…take my hand…" he said, and I reached out blindly, finally feeling safe when he held my warm hand in his own. I let him tug me towards him, taking tiny steps until I could feel him beside me. I didn't know what point of the ledge I was on, until I felt my legs dangling over the edge as we sat.

"Edmund, no, I want to go back…" I cried, so scared.

"No, come on, Em, you weren't scared before!" he laughed.

"That's because you were holding on to me." The words slipped out, and I instantly regretted them. Forward much?

But when I felt a warm arm curl around my waist, I blushed into the darkness.

"Better?" he asked, and I nodded, before realizing he couldn't actually see me.

"Yeah, that's better." I said.

We sat in silence for a little while. I know its strange, because I am such a loud person, but I loved silence. Sometimes it was awkward, but most of the time it was just…right.

Like now.

After a while, I couldn't help but say it.

"I am seriously on the verge of decking your brother." I stated bluntly, and I heard Edmund chuckle.

"He means well, though if he makes Maria cry again I daresay I won't be far behind you."

"He's acting like an ass." I said.

"Yeah," Edmund replied, "I think its because he's threatened by Caspian. And because things are so different this time."

"They would be," I agreed.

"Not for me." Edmund sighed, and my frown must have been audible, because he started to explain.

"All the time, theres someone older, more important. Caspian is good. He asks for my assistance, but he lets me be me. But Peter…"

"He needs to grow down." I muttered. "And so do you."

"But, if I don't act all mature and kingly, Peter starts a fight."

"True, but I think Maria is working her magic."

"In the moments they aren't fighting."

I giggled. He was right. Edmund sighed.

"I think Maria is just what Peter needs. But the question is, will he let her in?"

"If he does, everything will be so much better, Ed."

"I know," Edmund sighed.

We sat there for a while that night, just talking, and when we weren't talking, the silence was perfect. Edmund pointed out constellations for me, naming them all, tracing pictures as we lay back on the ledge. I couldn't see the pictures at all; and I told him that.

He then admitted neither could he, and this whole time he had been pretending to try and impress me. I laughed at that, and he laughed too. It was nice.

Well, at least until a crossbow arrow flew out of the darkness and hit me in the stomach.

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**Jordi here now!**

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	8. Chapter 8

*Chapter 8*

**Hey yall! Its Gabby here. I smelled drama and cliffhangers in the last chappie, so we're not leaving yall…hanging! BAHAHA. Im funny.**

**Anywho,before your subjected tp anymore bad puns,here's the story**

**REVEW :D**

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**Maria-**

Angry tears still poured from my face long after I had stormed out of the chamber with the Stone Table, away from Peter. Peter.. Just thinking his name made me simultaneously want to shit my pants in rage and scream and cry like a five year old. Who did he think he was, saying he was the most important person here?! We were all equally important, from the High King down to Reepicheep's mice patrol. It was so unfair of him to think he was above his men.. He never seemed like this before..

Then again, how did I know what he was like before? I puzzled over this question. How did I? I'd only met him a few days ago. How did I know he never used to be like this?

I sighed to myself. Maybe I'd been inside too long. After all, I hadn't been out of the How since earlier that afternoon, and had since been quite traumatized. So, with that thought process in mind, I stood up from my cot, wiped my tears off my face, and left, heading for the field outside of the How. I kept my face down as I made my way through the many corridors and chambers, praying I wouldn't pass any Narnians on my way.

But, as karma works, I did. I entered the main chamber to be greeted by Glenstorm, his wife and sons, and many other Narnians standing around and murmuring softly amongst themselves. They all looked up as I entered, but quickly averted their eyes and picked up their conversations. I even heard a couple of fauns start whispering to each other about me, picking up such words as 'picking fights' and 'Peter' and 'crying hysterically.'

Feeling my face turn a red worthy of the Narnian banners, I ran through the chamber and out of the How, ignoring Glenstorms exclamations of not being allowed to leave the How, especially at night. The cold night air blasted onto my warm cheeks and instantly cooled me down, calming me as well. I trekked further into the large field outside the How and veered right; toward the trees. A gentle breeze picked up, buffeting my hair and swaying the shin length grass of the field. I sighed. This was my favorite type of weather and one of my favorite times of day. It was easy for me to forget my continuous fights with Peter as I was being comforted by the beauty of nature.

I continued walking until I reached the edge of the trees, where I slowed to a leisurely pace. I chewed on my lip thoughtfully, mulling things over. Sure, Peter and I weren't getting along, but Emily and Edmund were making fantastic process in their relationship. At least she was happy. And we were both healthy, and alive, and in Narnia. These thoughts comforted and calmed me.

Suddenly, I heard a click from somewhere beside me, and whipped around in time to see a horsed archer with a crossbow taking aim at something on top of the How. I froze, my limbs numb with fear, but only for a moment before my senses kicked in.

There was a spy. He was shooting a crossbow at something, more than likely someone. I was right next to him, separated by a few trees. I was also unarmed.

I took off at a sprint back to the How, my dress and hair flying madly about as I ran as fast as my short legs would carry me. From somewhere behind me, I heard a snap as the crossbow belt was released, and looked up in time to see a figure collapse on the ledge of the How, landing limply in the arms of another figure, which cried out indistinctly. Amazingly, I was able to speed up, and tore through the stone arena in front of the How at an alarming rate.

Mass chaos was erupting as I reentered the How. Glenstorm and two of his sons, along with Asterius the Minotaur and a the fauns that were talking about me, sprinted past me out of the How as I burst into the main chamber, all armed. I saw Lucy run from the little room I knew she and Susan shared, her cordial in hand and tears burning in her eyes.

"Lucy!!" I cried, running after her. General inferences told me the Narnians already knew someone had been hit with a crossbow, so I felt no need to state the obvious. In fact, I had a feeling they were one step ahead of me, seeing as they already had a patrol running out to find the spy. Curiosity consumed my mind. Who had been hit?

I caught up with the Valiant Queen, who now had tears streaming freely from her face. "Oh, Maria, it's horrible!" she cried, panting from her sprint. "A spy-"

"I know, I was out there when he fired, I was about ten feet from him. Who did he shoot though?" I asked, also panting. Oi. Too much exercise in one five minute period. Especially for an American. Lousy stereotypes..

Lucy's faced blanched. She didn't offer me an answer, just picked up her pace.

"Lucy? What's going on? Who's been hit?" I asked again, my voice sounding panicky. Again, the little girl only kept running, hiccupping as she sobbed.

I tripped and fell over my dress, I was too busy worrying about whoever had been hit, and let out a loud curse as my shin slammed down on a sharp stone. A loud ripping sound accompanied me, and I was delighted to see I had ripped the front of my skirt almost in two. And to top it off, my shin was bleeding slightly.

"Maria, hurry up!" Lucy cried, not stopping to help me up. I huffed angrily, jumping to my feet and taking off down the corridor again. I couldn't run quite as fast, and was limping slightly. Curse you, un-coordination!

I followed Lucy into the ever popular Stone Table room. It's where all the teens are! Well. At the moment anyways.

I heard myself scream without realizing I had.

Emily lay on the Stone Table, bleeding heavily from her stomach, from which protruded a crossbow arrow. She was white as I am, which is saying something for an Australian, and a small trail of blood ran from her mouth. Edmund was standing beside her, his face streaked with tears as he clutched her limp hand. Beside him was Susan, who had a hand over her gaping mouth and tears in her ice blue eyes. Caspian was standing beside her, looking between Susan and Emily with pain in his eyes. From his posture, it was obvious he wanted to comfort Susan, but didn't know how. My heart would have gone out to him if it weren't shriveling into a tiny little raisin at the sight of my mortally wounded best friend. I didn't even notice Peter, who was standing on the other side of Caspian, until he said my name mournfully.

"Maria…"

I darted forward, jumping onto the Stone Table next to Emily and grabbing her other hand. I heard myself screaming, but again was unaware I was making the sounds.

"No, Emily, NO!! No no no no no no no no no no nooo!!"

Emily's face was deathly white, and turning whiter by the second. Her eyes were closed, and she was deeply unconscious. I looked down at her wound, tears flooding my face, and felt myself gag at the amount of blood pouring from her stomach. The arrow had hit her dead center in her stomach, and gone in deep. Needless to say, it was a mortal wound. I squeezed her clammy hand in a death grip, willing her to hold on.

I heard the soft sound of ruffling from my other side, and looked to see Lucy climbing onto the Stone Table, also, uncorking her vial and leaning over Emily. Before she gave her the vial, Edmund gently pulled the arrow from Emily's stomach, drawing an even thicker river of blood. Lucy's hand trembled violently as she dropped one fire red drop into Emily's mouth.

We all waited with baited breaths as seconds past before the vial showed any signs of working. Then, quite suddenly, her face gained all of its colour back and she gasped, her eyes fluttering open. I looked down to see her stomach cured of any wounds, not even a scar was left to show. She looked up at me for a moment, a warm smile creeping onto her face, before looking up at Edmund, who was smiling so much I thought his face would rip in half. He gathered her up into his arms, whispering her name over and over again and stroking her hair. How romantic.

"Yooooou're heeeere, there's noooothing I fear, and I know that my heart will, go ooooon.." I sang in an operatic tone, my voice trembling from the tears which still streamed down my face. Emily pulled away from Edmund and punched my arm, but Edmund didn't let her go for long. He grabbed her and pulled her back into his chest, chuckling hysterically.

"You two.." he said, just as Lucy wrapped her arms around Emily, also laughing. Giggling, I joined them, and soon felt the arms of Caspian go around me, and saw Susan hug Edmund. It was decidedly the nicest group hug of my life.

Then I heard someone clearing their throat. We all pulled away from the hug to see Peter still standing where he had been, his eyes slightly misty, but his jaw set determindly.

"I do believe that that experience is initiative enough for us to come up with a plan of action. Gather the army. We need to plan something." he said, storming from the room to get the Narnians. As his footsteps echoed through the corridor, a thick silence enveloped us.

"Well the fun in that died real soon," came Emily's sarcastic tone.

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EMILY-

Okay, so it was amazing that even though I had almost died, been brought back to life, cuddled by Edmund, sung to by Emily and basically had the most heartwarming, yet confusing few minutes of my life, Peter Pevensie still managed to give me the shits.

He didn't seem too happy that I was alive, but, if he was an asshole enough to act like that, I didn't care._ Edmund _was happy, and that was all that mattered. He cuddled me tighter, and I gripped his arms in reassurance. His face was still white, as if he thought that if he let me go for a second I'd be back at death's door again.

"I'm fine, Ed.." I giggled, and he smiled tightly. I tugged weakly at his arm, and he loosened it a little. Not that I really minded, of course, but I had just healed from an arrow in the stomach. Not much fun to have a tight hug session afterwards.

"I was terrified for you, Em.." Edmund whispered in my ear, and I smiled, exchanging a look with Maria who was managing to smirk at me and deathstare at Peter at the same time. Quite an accomplishment, really.

Peter was glaring right back, and I was ready to whack him. WHERE did he get off? Maria was just being herself, why did he have to be such an ass about it?

"Come along, Emily, lets get you changed," Susan smiled, but then frowned. "I don't think there are any more dresses…"

"That's okay!" I said, a little too quickly and loudly. "Just get me some small mens clothes, it'll be great." Susan smiled and nodded before hurrying out. I moved my aching body around, my head swimming again. Was I ever not going to have a headache in Narnia? I sighed and pushed myself off the table, but a pair of strong hands stopped me. I looked up to see Ed's brown eyes, sparkling in mirth.

"Oh, no you don't." he said, before somehow managing to sweep me up into his arms and carry me along the corridor, Maria at our heels.

"Edmund, c'mon, put me down, I'm fine," I moaned, but I think he could tell I didn't mean a word. Maria was silent behind us as we entered the room we shared.

Edmund placed me gently on my bed-thing, and I automatically leapt up, proving I was fine.

"Thanks, Eddie," I giggled. "If I ever need another form of transport other than walking, I'll let you know." I leant up and kissed his cheek gently, blushing.

But when I backed away, I was surprised to see Ed sending me a smirk.

"I'll carry you around anytime," he said, and winked. He _winked._

I tried hard to stifle my giggles and blushes, and he laughed too.

"Uh, Ed?" Maria said, and Edmund wheeled around as if he were surprised to see her there.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Em needs to get changed." She said smartly, nodding at me.

"Oh…er…right. I'll wait for you outside." He said, but Maria shook her head.

"How about back in the Stone Table room?" she said. "I kinda need to talk to my crocodile hunter."

Ed glanced at me before leaving the room with a smile.

Maria closed the door behind him, and turned to me, her mouth open in astonishment.

"Girl, he is whipped!" she cried, and I leapt up, doing a victory dance. Maria joined me, until the door creaked open and Susan's head poked in.

"I hope I'm not-" she began, but froze when she saw us, mid dance in the middle of the room.

"Uh…" I said, but Susuan just smiled.

"Its okay," she said. "I know what a victory dance looks like." She opened the door and placed my clothes on my bed-thing. "I'll leave you to it. But remember, the meeting is in half an hour in the-"

"Stone Table Room." I said, and Maria finished even better.

"The place to be." She giggled, and I did too.

"Don't forget to come, or-"

"Peter will be angry. Again." Maria finished this time, and I tacked on,

"And I will want to beat him up. Again."

Susan giggled and looked at Maria.

"Maria, I haven't really had a chance, but I would just like to apologize for Peter. He normally isn't like this. Ever since we went back, last time-"

"That's it!" Maria cried, and we looked at her in confusion.

She shut up quickly, but sent me a meaningful glance.

"Um..I'm gonna change." I said, looking at them. Maria nodded and followed Susan out the door. I slipped out of my bloody dress, and once again thanked god that I was wearing a clean bra when I came into Narnia.

I slipped on the mens clothes, which I found fit really well. Dark tights, with a long shirt, and a belt on my hips. I looked into the small mirror that the fauns had made us, and frowned. I really wanted to look…well…feminine in front of Ed.

So I took the belt off, and pulled out my knives. I cut the sleeves of the shirt, and tied them to they were tight to my upper arms, ending just below my elbows. I cut the belt shorter, and tied it around my waist, so the shirt was pulled a little tighter around my boobs and fell loose after that. I decided to take my hair out of the braqid I had it in, and gasped when it fell loose.

My hair had grown about fifteen centimeters, now hanging down over my shoulders in a golden wave. I ran my fingers through it, feeling the softness.

DAMN, I loved Narnia!

Because I was enjoying my hair so much, I left it loose, and it hung down my back. I pulled on my tiny boots, and opened the door, strutting out in front of Maria, who began making supermodel music.

"Wow. You look great!" she said, examining my altered outfit.

I giggled, and we made our way to the 'place to be', edging inside the door, blocked by some minotaur.

"Excuse me, Asterius," Maria called up to him, he turned around to look down at us.

"My ladies?" he replied, and I had to admit, his voice was pretty cool. Deep, husky, yeah. Coooooool.

"Asterius, do you think you could…" Maria gestured to the blocked pathway, and Asterius grumbled a chuckle.

"Of course," he said, stepping aside. We weaved our way through the crowd, my hand clutched in Maria's. She was short, but no where near as short as me. Suddenly, I felt a large, warm hand enclose my other one, and I turned to see Ed smiling at me through the crowds.

"This way," he said, and tugged us in the right direction. We made our way to the Table, and then around to a ledge where we took a seat, waiting for the meeting to begin.

We sat for about 5 minutes in a semi silence, waiting as the rest of the Narnians came pouring into the Stone Table Room, all armed and nervous looking. As the last of them marched in and settled themselves throughout the room, I looked up at Peter, who stood alone in the center of the room, waiting for silence and the attention of the Narnians. I heard Maria's dreamy sigh from next to me and looked to see her staring with rapt attention at Peter. I mimed gagging, earning a smack from her.

"Narnians," Peter began, looking around the room. "The time has come to act. As you all know, the Telmarines know of our position and have even been so bold as to attack one of our numbers." at this, a frightened murmuring went out through the room, and I felt many eyes on me. I blushed and looked to Maria, whose expression was pained. Clearly, the subject of my near assassination was still a sore one for her.

Peter continued. "We must act. We have no other choice. It's only a matter of time before Miraz and his war machines get here. Our spies have told us they're on their way here right now. That means those same men aren't protecting his castle." he said.

"What do you propose we do, your majesty?" Reepicheep chirped. Maria and I grabbed each others hands and squealed, earning us many strange glances. He was so cute!!

"We must-"

"We need to start planning for-"

Awkward silence. Caspian and Peter had spoken at the same time, and were now having a bitchy-look-stare down. My bets were on Peter to win.

He did. Too bad I didn't really bet anyone, or else I would've had more money than I currently do-zip. Caspian stepped down and went back to where he had been sitting, but didn't sit back down. Susan looked up at him in concern.

"Our only chance is to strike them before they strike us," Peter said, still looking at Caspian.

"Well, that's crazy! No one has ever taken that castle." the Telmarine Prince snapped back, clearly miffed at Peter's display of dominance. I would be, too.

"There's always a first time." Peter replied coolly.

"We'll have the element of surprise." said Trumpkin.

"But we have the advantage HERE." Caspian said, stomping his foot for emphases.

"If we dig in, we could probably hold them off indefinately." said Susan, standing and walking to Caspian's side. Peter sent her a death glare worthy of Maria. Their kids would be scary.

"I, for one, feel safer underground." Trufflehunter said.

"Look, I appreciate what you've done here, but this isn't a fortress, it's a tomb." Peter said.

"Yes, and if they're smart, the Telmarines will just wait and starve us out." Edmund tagged on, speaking for the first time. He glanced at me and smiled warmly, and I felt myself blush.

"We could collect nuts!" said Pattertwig the squirrel.

"Yes! And throw them at the Telmarines!" chirped Reepicheep sarcastically. He turned and glared at the squirrel. "Shut up!" he turned back to Peter and bowed. "I think you know where I stand, Sire."

I heard a ruffling next to me, and turned to see Maria getting to her feet. She was going to say something? I watched as Caspian and Peter turned towards her, Peter's expression wary and Caspian's curious. The Prince nodded at her.

"The chances of the Telmarines starving us out are highly unlikely." she said, turning to Edmund. Her expression was almost apologetic, letting him know she wasn't starting a fight. He nodded once, assuring her there were no hard feelings. "They are very hot tempered people, as Caspian has said before, so they wouldn't want to wait around while there was the opportunity for them to take action. But I agree with Caspian. I think it's not the best way to go about things, sneaking around their castle while we barely know our way about when we could stay and wait for them to come to us. I mean, I know with our school's basketball team we always do better on our own home turf, so wouldn't the same apply for armies especially?" she said.

I also stood, adding my two cents. "Yeah. And besides, it would take a while for them to get here, and in the meantime we could be recruiting more men and training our army. I think it's smarter to stay here."

Caspian sent us a look of gratitude, and we smiled back. Peter huffed.

Edmund reached out and took my hand, standing beside me.

"Em's right, I suppose. We need to last until the final battle. That's the most important thing." the Just King said, smiling down at me.

"You're only saying that because you like her!" Peter spat. "Get some responsibility!"

"Get a brain Peter!" I yelled, and his angry eyes flashed to me.

"I order you to shut your mouth." He hissed, and I was so angry I leapt forward, ready to hit him. Edmund got me first, catching my arms, and pulling me backwards. Damn his strength.

"Peter, take it back!" Edmund growled, still trying to restrain me.

"I won't." Peter said, and I saw Maria step forward.

"Peter, you idiot! Listen to someone else for a change!" she cried.

And then something strange happened. Peter seemed to come to himself, realize all that he had said. He looked up to Maria, his eyes full of such pain even I stopped fighting.

But then he looked to his feet, and then to Glenstorm.

"If I get your troops in, can you take care of the soldiers?" he asked, and Maria groaned.

Glenstorm glanced at Caspian.

"Or die trying, my liege."

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**Jordi here now :)  
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	9. Chapter 9

*Chapter 9*

**Herro! Gabby here. We're now getting into some drama! Huzzah! XD**

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**Maria-**

So this was the plan. Edmund and Emily were to fly into the castle on a gryphon first, and get to the tallest tower, where Edmund would then signal the rest of us with his torch-flashlight, in modern terms-and launch the attack. He would first signal Peter, Caspian, Susan, Trumpkin, and me, who would be waiting at the edge of the town outside the castle with our own gryphons. We would fly in and enter the castle through Caspian's professor's private tower, get said professor, and then split up. Trumpkin and Caspian were to get to the gatehouse and lower the drawbridge for the Narnian army, who would be signaled to approach and attack at various moments by Edmund and Emily. Peter, Susan and I were to make our way to Miraz's chambers and kidnap the usurper, then run down to the courtyard and meet up with the army. Miraz was to be passed off to a gryphon, who would then fly him back to the How, and the army would storm the castle, killing as many Telmarine soldiers as possible. Once this task was completed, we were to retreat.

It'd taken many long hours to come up with this plan, and the debate had lasted through the night and well into the morning. Lucy fell asleep with her head in Susan's lap and Edmund leaned against the far wall, nodding his head and mumbling his input when Peter and Caspian's attention was turned to him but closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall when they were turned to the map Caspian had drawn out of the Telmarine castle. Emily had had a hard time staying awake, but I was fascinated by the debate, and offered my input at any chance I could. There were times when I did it just to impress Peter, and I think I succeeded at my task. As the discussion came to a close and we were exiting the Stone Table Room, he came up to me and helped me to my feet.

"I didn't know you were in to debating and coming up with battle plans, Maria," he commented, his blue eyes intrigued.

"Well, I mean, I'm a pretty good strategist. I kick ass at the games Stratego and Battleship back home." I replied. He looked confused for a minute, then picked up the conversation.

"I see. Well your inputs were quite helpful and interesting to listen to. Yours and Emily's, both." he said the last part very begrudgingly, but I beamed nonetheless.

"Thanks. We try." I said, looking over my shoulder at Emily, who was watching the exchange from the corner of her eye with the tiniest of all smirks on her face.

Caspian and Edmund had joined us at this point, and Caspian nudged Edmund with a crooked grin. I was surprised-since when were they all buddy buddy?

"You see, Edmund? I told you they would be helpful." he said, chuckling. Edmund briefly grinned back, but it was obviously forced and he rather had the appearance of a groom at a wedding party who has to drop a major deuce.

"Thanks, Caspy!" I chirped happily, thinking nothing of the look and instead taking the opportunity to use the nickname I had come up with for him. He looked at me bewilderedly.

"Caspy-?" he began, but suddenly Emily stood up and joined the conversation, interrupting him.

"Hold up, what do you mean by that, Spanish boy?" she asked, looking suspiciously between Caspian and Edmund. I stared at her in confusion.

"Em, what're you getting at?" I asked, but got the hand in response. Not the 'talk to the hand cause the face aint listenin' hand, but the 'shut the fuck up, your comment just got rejected' hand.

"Oh, well, you see-" Edmund stuttered nervously, trying to talk over Caspian. Ok, something was definitely up.

"Quite Ed, let Caspian talk," Emily said sternly. Edmund stepped back a pace like a puppy that was being sent away from its master having peed on the carpet. Aww, I wanted to pet his head and give him a treat.

"Well, when we were preparing to discuss a plan of action, Edmund said he did not want you two to be present." Caspian said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

I looked at Emily, startled by this confession. Her eyes were narrowed and her face was scrunched up and she glared hollowly at the youngest king. Edmund was taking a step back, his hands raised in a 'calm down' manner. Caspian was awkwardly standing halfway between the two, looking much like the third wheel that he was. I stepped forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the danger zone and towards me, giving Emily full aim at Edmund's neck.

"Edmund," she said through gritted teeth. "What is he talking about?"

"Uhh.." Edmund began, scratching the back of his head, and I had to admit I was scared for him. Emily was scary as hell when she wanted to be. I'm thinking she was bit by a radioactive koala at some point in her childhood and gained super powers. _Really _piss her off, and she'll turn into Koalagirl and claw your face off.

Peter, God bless his soul, decided he was going to be helpful. He stepped forward and, with an undeterminable look on his face, said,

"Edmund was opposed to your attendance to this meeting. He tried to get us to agree to you not coming, but Caspian convinced him otherwise."

Emily's eye twitched, and I felt the dull flames of anger lick my mind, too. What was he trying to get at, keeping her out of the meeting? I glared at the dark haired king and waited in anticipation for her to explode and to be hit by little flying chunks of Emily. Ew.

It never came. Emily's shoulders slumped in defeat and she let out a long sigh like a balloon being released of air and shook her head. She suddenly looked super tired and worn out, like our adventures in Narnia were finally catching up to her. She looked back up at Edmund with unfathomably deep chocolate eyes that reflected such a sadness I felt like we were sharing a soul; I felt her sadness and pain and troubles. Then, she turned and left, leaving the rest of us in a silence so suffocating I had to leave, also.

I heard footsteps after me, and turned to see Peter following me out of the Stone Table Room with a look of concern on his face. I slowed down to let him catch up and walked in step with him. After a few moments, however, he stopped and grabbed my arm.

"I never got to ask you.. What happened to your leg?" he asked softly, looking down at my left leg. I followed his gaze to see my torn, bloody leg and the scratch on my leg. I felt a blush on my cheeks.

"Oh uh… I fell and hit my shin on a rock and it cut me." I felt like an idiot. Really, Maria? Way to make an impression. He probably thinks I'm retarded or something.

Imagine my surprise when he pulled me into a warm hug, his arms holding me to his chest protectively. I just kinda stood there like a rag doll while he held me to him, completely shocked.

"Thank Aslan! I thought you had been attacked, too!" he cried, doing that weird thing where you laugh really nervously cause you're relieved.

"Nahh, don't worry about me, I'm fine!" I said good naturedly, blushing even more. He was WORRIED? About ME?! Holy crap. I was beyond shocked. And also extremely pleased. If he was worried, then that means he cared about my wellbeing. And if he cared about my wellbeing.. Well, who's to say he doesn't care about _me_?

So I stood there in his arms as he held me to his chest for a good couple of minutes. And it was nice, until Asterius and Caspian came from around the corner and the prince said,

"Peter, Maria.. It's time."

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EMILY-

I hurried along the corridor, tears pricking at my eyes. Back down? That was so UNLIKE me. I never backed down. I was always in someones face. During my life, I had that many experiences with lame ass guys that I had my defence mechanism. Fight back, don't let them overrule you.

And what had I just done?

I was mega pissed with Ed, still. Why wouldn't he want us there? Why would he FIGHT not to have us there? It was so strange, and I didn't understand! I think that affected my reaction a bit. You know, surprise that he would actually be that..vindictive.

I let out a long sigh as I made my way to the tiny room I shared with Maria. The plan was to hit the mattress for a few hours before the raid, when I'd be flying in with..dammit!

Fantastic. My entire night, the first ever battle, would be spent with the one person I couldn't stand to be around. Argh.

I collapsed down onto my bed thingy, intent on passing out as soon as possible. But, alas, that wasn't meant to be.

Maria skipped inside, shutting the door behind her, humming merrily. She did a spin and twirl, but being her clumsy, yet loveable self, she stacked it on the twirl, and ended up in a heap on the floor.

I heard her grumbling about why the floor had to be so hard, and I rolled myself so my head was poking over the edge of my bed, so I could stare down at her.

Through her intense grumblings, she was smiling.

"What has gotten into you, missy?" I snickered, narrowing my eyes. Maria stared up at me, trying to look innocent.

She completely failed and started giggling.

"I'm guessing Peter?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. She seemed to hold her breath for a second before exploding.

"Yes! Oh, my god, he HUGGED me, and said he was worried!" she then preceded to stand up and do the victory dance. I shrugged and joined her.

After a little while we sat down on our beds, intent on getting some shuteye before the raid. I wondered what would happen, if anyone would die.

I let my eyes close, and the anger at Edmund drifted away, and I felt myself thinking about him more and more, getting lost in his big, brown, eyes..

_'Emily…'_ _he whispered in my dream, staring at me._

"Emily…"

_Edmund raised his hand, his fingertips brushing a piece of hair behind my ear. I smiled._

"Emily."

My eyes snapped open, and I jolted when they immediately met a pair of deep, brown ones, much like my own.

"HOLY SANTA CLAUS SHIT!" I screeched, and fell out of the bed. Edmund looked down at me, laughing.

"Well, at least I don't have to wake up any one else in the How," he snickered, and I glared at him.

I stood up, brushing off my clothes, straightened up my back, and marched from the room with my nose in the air.

Well at least until I caught my arm on the doorframe and spun well off course. I started to fall, but a pair of strong arms caught me, and I heard another or Edmunds chuckles.

"Careful now," he laughed.

I straightened up again, and kept walking, the Just King at my heels.

"Sure you don't need my alternative form of transport?" he asked.

"Shut up, Edmund."

* * *

I saw Maria chatting away to Peter a short distance away, so as I was walking past, I grabbed her arm, and tugged her after me.

"Your armour is with Susan and Lucy!" Peter called after us.

We followed the corridor to the small room Susan and Lucy shared, where three strange sets of shapeless leather lay on the bed. Susan was already tying gauntlets to her arms as we walked in, while Lucy stood, watching her older sister in awe.

"Hello," Susan smiled as we strolled in.

"Hey, guys!" I called cheerily.

"Nice night, eh?" Maria chuckled, and I pushed at her.

Two fauns immediately came over and started handing us new clothes, thankfully not a dress in my case. Maria had a battledress like Susan, in a dark, dark blue colour. We slipped off our outerclothes, for some reason not feeling self conscious at all. Everything was so natural here, no one looked twice at anyone.

I pulled on my trousers, letting them sit on my hips as I fumbled with the thin, light chainmail I had to put on next. I couldn't find the headhole, so I was standing there, wearing only a bra on my upper half, when the door opened.

I didn't really care who it was, I mean, back home in Australia, I was hot all year round, so light, little amounts of clothing were necessary. I wore bikini's on a daily basis, so showing skin wasn't really a big deal to me.

I turned my head when the door opened, and saw Edmund slip in.

"Susan, I need you to-" Edmund froze when he saw me.

"What?" I asked. I saw his gaze slide down to my bra. I looked down too, and then at him with my eyebrows raised.

"Yes?" I said, and I chuckled when his wide eyes snapped back up to my face.

"They're just boobs, Ed." I giggled, and I saw Maria's expression of 'holy crap, if I don't burst out laughing soon I will piss myself'. "Last time I checked, most girls have them."

Edmund turned beet red, and ducked back out the door, shutting it quickly behind him. Susan, Lucy, Maria and I fell to the floor, laughing so hard we were crying.

"Oh!" Lucy was howling, "I've-never-seen-him-that-red!"

Susan was clutching her stomach tightly as she laughed.

"Oh, that was priceless!" Maria screeched through her laughter.

We laughed for about another five minutes straight, all clutching our stomach's, when the door opened, and Peter edged in. He stared at us for ages, trying to figure out what was so funny.

"Er.." he mumbled, and Maria somehow managed to stand up.

"Well, Ed came in…" she looked at me, still on the ground, topless in all my tanned glory. Phht.

Peter took in my half-naked image, and blushed, looking back to Maria.

"Please, hurry a little could you, ladies? We need to leave soon."

But instead of saying it in his normal, serious manner, he smiled, letting us know there was some humor in it. Maria beamed up at him, and I could see he was finally letting her inside his Great Wall of Peter.

"I'll meet you all outside." He said, which I suppose was directed at us, but I couldn't really tell, seeing as he was only staring at Maria. He then turned and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

W e scuttled along and got dressed, chatting merrily as we went. Susan was really nice. She was serious and seemed to have slight trust issues, but I could tell that being with a couple of girls her own age was helping her let loose and enjoy herself, and Narnia.

"What's your favorite book, Susan?" Maria asked, her face red from laughing at some joke one of us had made.

Susan, clutching her sides which were sore from laughing so hard, looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Well I like a lot of books. It's hard to pick a favorite.. But I suppose _Pride and Prejudice, _by Jane Austin. Have either of you read it?"

Maria squealed and hopped up and down. I'd take that as a yes. Funny little nit, that one there.

"I love Jane Austin!" she cried, flailing her teensy little hands. She had very small hands, something she informed me all her friends teased her about.

Susan laughed. "Is that your favorite book, too?" she asked curiously.

"Nope. Well it's one of them, though." Maria replied.

"Oh? Well, what are your favorite books?" the brunette asked, looking between the two of us.

Maria looked and me and we both smirked crookedly. Oh, the irony of the situation. We couldn't say our favorite books without causing the mass destruction of the universe, like in TV shows. I shrugged and responded.

"Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer."

Susan nodded. "I haven't heard of that one. What's it about?"

I smirked and rocked back and forth on my heels. "This chick named Bella falls in love with a vampire. There's werewolves, too." I tried to contain myself and keep the explanation short. When it came to Twilight, I could be insane.

Susan nodded again, looking thoughtful. "I see. I'll look for that one when we get back to England.. Well Maria, what's your favorite book?"

Maria did this weird little dancing thing which involved her spinning around in a circle and doing the wave one arm at a time. "Harry Potter, bitches!" she cried in a singsong voice. She then turned to me with a maniacal look on her face. "Team Cedric."

"Hey, I'm Team Jacob anyways, so-"

"Team Sharkboy."

"Bite me!"

"Avada kadavra!"

"Bitch."

"Wahahahahha!"

"Um, well then.." Susan said uncomfortably, taking a step away from where Maria and I challengingly stood in each others faces. We turned and looked at her, then back at each other, then busted out laughing.

A knocking on the door informed us that Edmund and Peter were still waiting. "Are you done yet?!" came Peter's slightly irritated voice through the thick wood, drawing us out of our fun conversation and back into the reality of the upcoming night.

"Coming!" we all three cried at the same time, grabbing our weapons and heading out to join the army.

**Howdy there. Jordi and Gabby here, wishing you fair winds and a following sea. :) **

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	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10*

**Hullo there. Gabby here. Tis snowing here in hillbilly land, very inspiring weather to write a Narnia fanfic.**

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**Now enjoy. Review. And no one gets hurt.**

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**Maria-**

I rode along on the back of my gryphon, bouncing along as it made its way through the rough forest. My mouth stretched open in a grand yawn, and I gingerly laid my head against the gryphon's back. I knew I needed sleep, but at the same time knew it wouldn't come to me. My nerves were acting up to much for that.

I felt like I was waiting in line for a brand new roller coaster, one that wasn't finished being built and gave wusses like me nose bleeds. The plan was so unsure, and it was a big risk.. And besides, Emily and I barely knew how to fight!

Not that we didn't train, like, all the time. We did. We were showing good process, Emily especially(Edmund had taken up the honor of training her himself) and we practically killed ourselves with exhaustion half the time we went so long training. But still, our skills were mediocre at best when compared to the likes of the Pevensies and Caspian. But we were good, that wasn't something you could deny.

Presently, we came to the edge of the forest and found ourselves facing a huge field that dented in like a mini valley and was shrouded in fog. Looming in the distance was a small town that started on the ground of the field and gradually leveled itself up to a huge cliff, dropping off into a pitch black precipice. The main road, which ran straight through the town, turned into a bridge here, which led to a castle which sat upon a peninsula in the abyss. The castle was precariously built upon the rocky peninsula, and seemed to grow from the stones. It was certainly made from stones the same colour as those of the rocks of the cliff face, and rose high into the misty fog. It was creepy, and gave me subliminal images of that Haunted Mansion movie, with Eddie Murphy. Is that a zombie I smell?

"Alright." came Peter's voice from the very front of the regiment; he and Caspian were leading the group. Mainly Caspian, seeing as he was the only one who knew where the castle was, but Peter was not going to give him the pleasure of being a full-fledged leader for one second. I peeked over the top of my gryphon's head to see the sexy boy standing between Caspian and a gryphon of his own, Edmund on the other side. "Right, then. There's the castle.. Edmund and Emily will leave first."

He didn't seem to be in the mood for a big long inspirational speech, and I don't think it would have helped any of us, anyways. I heard the ruffling of wings from beside me, and turned to see Emily's gryphon stretching its wings apart, preparing to take off. Up ahead of me, Edmund was straddling his own gryphon and speaking some quiet words to his brother.

"Bye Emily," I whispered, trying my best to smile. "May the force be with you."

"Live strong and prosper," she replied, reaching over and squeezing my arm. She smiled back at me before her gryphon took off into the night sky in pursuit of Edmund's, carrying her away to the castle. I sighed and laid my head back down against the soft feathers of my gryphon's neck, nestling my face against them and closing my eyes.

I heard footsteps next to me and felt a hand on my outer thigh. I turned without lifting my head from the gryphon's neck and looked down, finding myself drowning in the aqua blue gaze of Peter Pevensie. I was suddenly hyper aware of his hand on my thigh and felt my temperature rise a couple of degrees.

"Why hello Peter." I whispered, not being able to hide the girlish glee adding a squeak to my voice. He was looking up at me with warmth in his blue eyes, a smile only pulling up one side of his mouth. It was gorgeous and adorable and hot and totally making me drool.

"Hello, Maria. Are you alright? I noticed you were slumping against your gryphon, you aren't hurt, are you?" he asked, the smile fading slightly from his face and he checked me over for wounds.

I felt the smile grow on my face. He was such a caring person. "Yes, Peter, I'm fine. Just tired, that's all." I replied.

He patted my thigh, and I could feel the warmth of his hand through my dress. "I think we all are.. It's an ungodly hour to be awake, but the point of the whole thing is that it's a _night _raid.."

I laughed lightly at his small attempt at humor. At least he was trying to make the situation light. "Yeah, well this is the only night mission I'll ever go on. I need my sleep." I said back.

And then suddenly, Peter was sliding his hands around my waist and pulling me down from the gryphon. I laughed and grabbed his forearms as he span me around in a circle before placing me on the ground.

"Peter, what're you doing?!" I cried, still laughing as he again span me.

"I didn't like looking up at you, although it was a very nice angle for your pretty face. I prefer you down here on the ground with me." he said softly in my ear, and I turned into butter and melted all over my toasty Peter. Man this boy was smooth. And I loved it.

I giggled and grabbed his hands in my own, swinging my arms merrily and staring up at him. He smiled down at me, and I mean a real smile, not a little tight lipped half smile, and then twirled me around like we were dancing. Which we then proceeded to do.

It was the weirdest dance of my life. Neither of us knew what we were doing, and my discoordination nearly knocked us down multiple times, but that just made it all the funner. We were laughing and doing a cross between salsa and ballroom dancing when we heard a throat being cleared from behind us. Peter lifted me from the dramatic dip we had just been executing and we turned to see Caspian on the back of his gryphon, flanked by Susan and Trumpkin and their gryphons.

"Look," he said, turning back to the castle, and I peeked over Peter's shoulder to see a small yellow light waving at us from the tallest castle turret. Edmund and Emily's signal.

"Oh, right." Peter said, looking embarrassed. He guided me back over to my gryphon, and lifted me from my waist up onto the back of the beast. He made sure I was seated before turning and leaving, but a sudden burst of courage lead me to call out after him.

"Peter, wait!" I said, drawing his attention back to me. And I leaned over the side of my gryphon. And I kissed his cheek.

"Good luck." I whispered against his cheek, pulling away. A dark blush stained both our cheeks.

"And to you." he whispered back, his voice sounding strained. He stared up at me with those impenetrable blue eyes for a moment longer than necessary before turning and making his way over to his own gryphon, jumping easily on the back of the beast.

And with that, we took off. My stomach lurched as the five of us took off into the sky and headed straight up for the black clouds, breaking the cover of the fog and hovering above it. I clutched onto my gryphon's neck for dear life, and it took everything I had not to scream and shit my pants. Our cover would definitely be blown either happened, and Aslan forbid they happen together at once. That would stink. Literally.

I felt my gryphon dive down, and looked to see us approaching a great wall in the castle. It was between two large turrets, upon one of which two small figures could be seen. Edmund and Emily.

I looked down to see two archers taking aim at said tiny figures. I heard a bow being pulled taut from my left and knew Susan was taking aim, but that still left one archer alive. I drew my own bow from the quiver on my back and notched an arrow, which I proceeded to send flying.

My aim wasn't as nice as Susan's, but it got the job done. My gryphon landed on the wall and I jumped down from its back, falling in the process. I felt a hand on my elbow and looked to see Peter pulling my to my feet. Before he could ask, I said,

"I'm fine." with a smirk on my face. From the corner of my eye, I saw Emily waving her arms, and turned to look up at her. She gave me a thumbs up and a wink, and I chose to ignore the wink and sent her a thumbs-up in return.

"Come on, Maria," Peter said, his hand on my arm gently tugging me along after him. I looked to see the others all racing off for the turret opposite of Emily's, and with a final glance back at my friend took off after them in pursuit of the Professor Cornelius' study.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**EMILY-**

I let my hands fall to my sides as Peter grabbed Maria's attention and led her quickly towards the edge of the building where she'd have to slip down the rope and into the Professors office. I wasn't even going to think about how Peter was going to make her do that.

I turned back around to where Ed was leaning against the wall, staring at me, almost in curiosity. I met his eyes, and raised my eyebrows.

"What?" I hissed.

"Nothing." Edmund said, and looked away. I hated it when people did that, got you all curious and then said 'don't worry', or 'nothing'. It was frigging irritating. Just like Edmund. I crossed the balcony, and looked out towards the forest where our troops were waiting, hidden in the shadow. I then sucked in a deep breath when I realized how high up we were. I closed my eyes and went all tense.

"Are you alright?" Ed asked.

I let out the breath and turned back towards him.

"I'm fine." I replied quickly.

Through the corner of our eyes we could see the other griffin carrying our friends land on another tower, and we knew we would have to let the second signal go soon.

Ed seemed to realized what was wrong and his face crumpled.

"Oh, Aslan, I'm so sorry, Em," he said, and I cocked my head at him.

"The height. I didn't even think about how uncomfortable you would be."

I took a shuddering breath and smiled weakly.

"Don't worry about it, Ed." I said, patting his arm. "I forgive you."

"Would you forgive me about the meeting thing?" he asked, and I thought for a second. With those penetrating brown eyes, how could I resist?

I nodded. "Sure. Forgiven."

"Good, he whispered, and stepped towards me slowly. I backed backwards, so my back was resting on the outer wall of the tower. Edmund kept stepping forward, and I realized what he was doing.

Oh wow. Oh boy. Oh Aslan.

He stepped forward again, and now he was hal an rams distance away. One more step and he would be pressed against me. He took that step too, and we stared at eachother, everything melting away around us. One of his arms curled around my waist, the other still holding the torch, and he pulled me forward a few centimeters.

"Thankyou," he whispered, before pressing his lips to mine.

Okay, so I've had a little experience in the kissing arena. Not heaps, but I was no novice. And neither was Ed. He deepened the kiss even more, and I responded eagerly, not really believing this was happening.

We kissed for a few more mintues, until I heard a loud clatter, and Ed pulled away from me quickly, leaning over the balcony around me. I leant down too, and gasped when I saw the torch about ten metres below us, on the second tier of the watch tower. As we watched, a door opened from the tower, and a helmeted guard walked out, staring at the torch in confusion. He picked it up, and somehow managed to flick the switch, illuminating the torch and flashing himself in the face.

I turned to get up Ed, but flinched when I realized he had disappeared. I whirled around to see the open door, and ran down the steps to the second tier where Ed was pushing a Telmarine soldier away. He had lost his sword, and I cursed Ed and his foolishness.

The Telmarine Guard swung his sword at Ed, who was backed up against a wall. Edmund ducked just in time, and used the guards recovery time to pick up the torch which was on the ground. He moved so quick I almost didn't see him, and the guard stumbled forward as Ed swung the torch wildly, knocking the guards head, and sending him to the ground, unconscious.

I ran forward as Ed looked at me in triumph.

"Quick, signal the troops!" I hissed, and he nodded, a little disappointed with my lack of reaction and praise, and fiddled with the torch, which wasn't turning on.

"Oh, no," Ed groaned, and I huffed.

"Let me see." I said, and took it off him. The torches from my time were a lot trickier than this one, and I quickly realized the batteries had been knocked out of place. With some quick fiddling and tapping, I flicked the switch, the light coming on.

I signaled the troops, and turned back to Ed, who was standing and staring at me like before, except with a bemused look on his face.

"What?" I smiled, enjoying the look.

"You're amazing, you know that?" he sighed, and I giggled like a little kid.

"You're not so bad yourself," I said as I glided forward, picking up his sword as I went. "That was some awesome swordwork."

Ed smiled in appreciation, and I only then noticed the thin trickle of blood coming from his eyebrow.

"Eddie, you're hurt!" I said, rushing forward. Ed caught my wrists, and frowned at me.

"I thought I said no Eddie." He chuckled, and leant down to kiss me again.

When he pulled away, I felt like I'd been bashed over the head with a hammer.

"No Eddie." I promised.

And that was peace was amazing compared to what was soon to come.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Maria-**

We sprinted across the wall, down the winding stairs of a turret, across another wall, and came to the top of the tower which housed the Professor. Caspian threw a rope he had been carrying down the side of the turret and tied it securely to one of the square stone 'teeth' of the turret, and I watched as he sidled himself down the tower. I felt the blood drain from my face as I watched as one by one my companions made their way down the rope. There was no way they were getting me to hoist my fat butt down the side of this tower, nuh uh no sir.

"Come on, Maria!" I heard Susan hiss, and peeked over the side of the turret and watched as Trumpkin made his way down the rope to see how it was done.

This was definitely the wrong thing to do. I looked down just in time to see Trumpkin lose his balance as he landed on the windowsill, slip and fall backwards. I let out a small cry as I watched the dwarf tip backwards of the ledge, and watched as Susan turned and, showing lightening fast reflexes, reached out and grabbed him by his quiver strap. They stood frozen like that for a few moments, in which Trumpkin's raspy breathing was heard from where I stood, and I again looked to see them both looking down, where two figures stood in the courtyard below. Had Trumpkin fallen, he would have landed right on top of the Telmarine soldiers, and Susan was keeping him suspended there in midair so as to not draw their attention. A few moments later, they slowly walked off and disappeared into an archway leading elsewhere in the castle. Susan grunted as she heaved Trumpkin back onto the windowsill, and with a nod of thanks he shoved past her and into the Professor's chamber. She then looked up at me and gave two tugs on the rope, indicating it was my turn to come down.

White hot fear gripped me and stiffened my limbs as I looked down the side of the building. They honestly expected me to sidle my ass down that rope? Huh uh, no way. It's already been established that I'm the clumsiest person in all of Narnia, and have had experiences on the climbing rope back at school. That got out of gym for a week with a badly sprained ankle. Aslan only knows how being dangled hundreds of feet above an enemy filled stone courtyard would end.

Then, as I stood staring uncomprehendingly at Susan, I saw Peter step onto the windowsill again. He looked up at my frozen form and his face softened and he held his arms up to me.

"Come on, Maria, you can do it. There's nothing to worry about, I won't let anything happen to you. You'll be fine." he whispers up to me, still holding his arms up. My heart melts into a little pile of mush at his sweetness, and I regain the ability to move my limbs. Cautiously, very cautiously, I step between the turret teeth and, using the rope, lower myself until my chin is level with the tower. I grip the rope between the front parts of my feet and my clenched fists and slowly inch my way down it.

It hurt like a mofo, I won't lie to you. The rope was coarse and hurt my tender pixie hands as I slid down it, rubbing them raw. I nearly cried out, but realized everyone else was able to do it without so much as flinching, so I didn't speak now and forever held my peace.

Well I can say I made it to the bottom of the rope pretty decently. But then as I got within leg reach of the windowsill, I looked down and realized just how high off the ground I was. So for some reason my hands let go of the rope in my fright, and I fell the last foot or so onto the ledge. My legs crumpled beneath me, and I felt myself falling off the ledge.

Before I could rightly fall, however, I felt a pair of strong arms catch me around my waist and pull my upright, back on the ledge. I looked up to see Peter looking down at me, terror written in his eyes and a weak smile plastered on his face. I chuckled nervously, my voice pitching in my anxiety, and buried my face in his chest.

"You're fine, you're fine," he cooed into my hair, stroking my back. He pulled me to my feet and lead me into the Professor's chamber, Susan closing the window after us.

We turned to find Caspian standing beside a large deck covered in papers and books. He was examining a tiny pair of well, glasses-things.

"Where is he?" Susan asked, and Caspian glanced at her.

"Probably in the dungeons. I have to help him."

"You don't have time!" Peter hissed, and glanced at me. I knew he was scared for my safety, and even in this scary time, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Sort of.

"You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him!" Caspian hissed back. I cleared my throat.

"Can you get to the gatehouse in time?" I asked, and Caspian nodded.

I turned to Peter. "We have to help the professor." When he didn't look convinced, I stroked his arm gently. He gulped and nodded at Caspian, and we all crept from the room.

As we were going along the dark corridor, I couldn't help but look out through the windows at the magnificent view the royal wing had. You could see the entire interior of the castle, and all the towers.

I moved along to the next window as Peter and Susan tried to work out our position, seeing as the Telmarine castles were so confusedly laid out. I moved right up to the sill of this window, staring out into the darkness, trying to spot Emily.

I saw the top tower, where Ed and Emily should be, and I craned my neck to try and see them. I saw a flicker of movement up there, and saw Emily lean against the side of the tower, and Ed seeming to advance upon her.

My eyes widened as he got closer...and closer...

And then the two figures were one.

THEY WERE MAKING OUT!

I let out a squeal, and felt a hand clap over my mouth. Ah shit. I'd forgotten we were in the middle of a night raid. Peter was glaring at me, and I made an apologetic look with my eyes. Thank god, no one had heard me.

Peter moved away, and I pulled Susan over to the window, pointing to the top of the tower where the couple were still intertwined. Susan's eyes widened, and she beamed with happiness.

Peter silently signalled us, and we continued up the hallway towards Miraz's chambers, the couple forgotten. I could have sworn I heard a distant clatter outside, but I wasn't sure.

We approached Miraz's door, and I strung an arrow, ready for the attack.

*****************

**Okay, Jordi here.**

**And I agree with Gabby.**

**Lack of reviewers make us sad D;**

**So PRESS THAT BUTTON XD**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey Dudes :)**

**Jordi here; I hope you're enjoying our story XD**

**Cus I know we are XD**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**MARIA-**

We banged the door to Miraz's room open, Susan and Peter strolling in, weapons ready and looking fierce, while I stumbled in after them, trying to look as cool as them. Fail. What we were shocked to find was Miraz backed against the wall, with Caspian holding his sword to the usurpers neck, and Prunaprismia sitting on the bed aiming a wicked looking crossbow at Caspian.

"Put the sword down, Caspian," she had just finished saying as we burst in, "I don't want t do this."

Susan, as always, was quickest on the uptake. "We don't want you to, either!" she said forcefully, her beautiful bow up and ready for action. There was a moment of confusion as no one knew where to aim. Miraz put his hands on his hips and said in a dejected voice,

"This used to be a private room."

"What are you doing?" Peter yelled at Caspian, seeming to remember the plan. "You're supposed to be at the gatehouse!"

"No, enough!" Caspian shouted, looking wild. "Tonight for once, I want the truth!"

He then advanced on Miraz, sword at his throat, looking angrier than I ever thought he could. "Did you kill my father?" he said, his voice shaking with rage.

Wow, Narnia was worse than some cheesy soap opera.

Prunaprismia gasped and looked at her husband.

"You said your brother died in his sleep!" she hissed.

Miraz shrugged. "That was more or less true."

"Caspian!" Susan shouted to get the Princes attention. "Killing him doesn't solve anything."

Miraz glanced at her. Caspian glared at Miraz.

"How could you?" Prunaprismia sobbed.

"For the same reason you would pull that trigger. For our son!"

Miraz's wife looked confused for a moment, glancing down at the crossbow she held, still aimed at Caspian.

Miraz let his gaze flicker back to the distracted Prince, and he stepped forward, towards the sword. Caspian stepped back.

"Stop," Miraz's wife pleaded.

"Stay right there!" Susan cried.

"You have to make a choice dear," Miraz said, still advancing on Caspian. "Do you want our son to be king? Or to be like Caspian here? FATHERLESS."

"NOOO!" Prunaprismia screamed, and released her crossbow bolt. It hit Caspian in the arm, and he cried out in pain, staggering into a chair. Prunaprismia collapsed on the bed, sobbing. No one seemed to notice Miraz slip out the door, so I let my arrow loose at him. He was too quick and got around the doorway. I made to run after him, but Peter stopped me.

"MARIA, no! Stay here! Help me!" he yelled, and I approached him and Caspian, who was recovering.

"Lets go," Susan said, and we all ran from the room, leaving Prunaprismia tied to the bed, still sobbing.

We ran along the hallway until there was a split. One way led down to the courtyard, and the other to the stables.

Susan, Caspian and I ran the stables way, but Peter pissed off in the other direction.

"Peter!" Susan yelled.

"Our troops are right outside, come on!" he bellowed, and we followed him, shaking our heads. What was he playing at? What was he trying to prove?

Peter sped on ahead of us, through the arches into the courtyard.

**************

**EMILY-**

Ed and I were standing ready, hand in hand, waiting for Peters signal for us to signal the troops. We were looking everywhere around the castle, our eyes flashing around.

"Where is he?" Ed hissed, and I squeezed his hand.

Suddenly, the door behind us banged open, and three guards ran out. They froze for a second when they saw us, two Narnian teenagers, standing hand in hand.

And then Ed pushed me aside as he started swinging his sword, taking one down easily. I retrieved my balance, and pulled out my knives, swiping them in the way Ed had taught me. I was good, but not as good as a guard twice my height with a massive sword.

I still tried anyway, and managed to cut his chest deeply, but it wasn't a mortal wound. He kept swinging at me, and I ducked again and again, until the edge of his sword caught my cheek. I felt warm blood flow, but I tried to ignore the tickling feeling as I kept fighting. I could hear Ed beating the other two guards, and from the corner of my eye I could see another had joined them.

Using some quick tricks, the guard disarmed me completely, and I kept dodging him, using my tinyness as an advantage. He roared in pain as I flicked some sharp metal pieces as him, and they stuck into his skin.

And then I felt my back pressed against the wall.

The guard was advancing on me, and I only had one thing left to do.

"Hey, dude, what are you supposed to do in a fire?" I asked tauntingly, as he approached me.

His eyes narrowed, but he had a wicked smile on his face.

"You STOP, DROP, AND ROLL!" I screamed, and did just that. I knock him over, by rolling under his legs, and somehow he lost his sword. We both leapt to our feet, and I launched myself on his back, just like I would with my friends back home. I ripped his helmet from his head, and started beating him with it, biting and hitting and punching and kicking as he flailed around, trying to get me off his back.

He backed up against the wall, and slammed me up against it, and I saw red at the edge of my vision. I slid off his back, and he took a few steps away, giving me the chance to get up. He wheeled around, but obviously wasn't prepared for me.

I punched him in the nose, and I felt it crack under my fist. He stumbled away, feeling the blood pouring from his nose.

"Thats right, bitch!" I yelled. "Take a piece of th-"

I was cut off by another guard coming up behind me, and lifting me off my feet. I kicked at him, as hard as I could, but he didn't let go.

"Get off me!" I screamed when he took his hand away from my mouth.

I kicked again, hard, and my foot landed in his crotch. The guard howled in pain, and dropped me. I fell hard to the floor, and felt one of my knives under my fingers. I held it high, and stabbed it into one of the guards, pulled it out, and threw it at another. It hit him fair in the chest, and he dropped to the ground.

I crouched on my hands and knees, panting.

I heard footsteps, and looked up to see Ed staring down at me in concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked frantically, searching me for any wounds. He ran his fingers over the cut on my cheek, and the bruise that was blossoming there.

"That bastard," he said, looking down at the dead guard in anger. He leant forward and kissed the wound, before kissing my lips softly. I smiled at him.

We heard a clatter down in the courtyard, and another clatter at the doorway. Another guard ran out, and Ed attacked his quickly. This guard obviously was alright with the sword, and fought back.

I heard Peters shout from below. "QUICK! ED, SIGNAL THE TROOPS!"

"I'm a bit busy Pete!" Edmund yelled back, as he leant backwards over the tower. I picked up my knife, and stabbed the guard in the back, pulling the knife out as he went down. I collected my other knife, wiping the blood off as I made my way back to Ed, who was signalling the troops to come.

In a matter of moments, we saw the portacullis open, and our troops charge in, accompanied by the others, and a shout of "FOR NARNIA!".

Ed and I followed the staircase inside the tower down, until we were on a ledge on the second level above the courtyard.

It could be seen immediately that the Narnians were fighting hard, but we had lost our advantage. We no longer had the element of surprise.

Things got even worse when we watched a troop of crossbow archers file out along the edge below us, ready to aim down into the courtyard. It was the same on all edges around the courtyard, and I knew immediately we weren't going to win.

I watched in horror as a crossbow man below us took aim at Maria, who was fighting hard from a staircase, above the action, yet close enough to pick Telmarines off one by one. I was sure Peter had placed her there, obviously to keep her out of the thick of things.

I couldn't let her get hit. I acted on impulse, and pulled myself up on the roof, and slid down, knocking the soldier down, down, down to his death. I heard Ed's grunt as he landed beside me.

He glared at me, and I smiled apologetically.

"ED! EM!" Peter roared from below, and we realised the entire line of crossbow men were staring at us. They raised their crossbows, and Ed and I ran for the door, diving inside, Ed closing the door with his feet behind us.

We leapt up, locking the door, and followed the staircase up. I prayed that it led somewhere other than just the top of a tower, and my prayers were answered.

Ed spoke as we ran.

"There is a griffin somewhere up on these towers. You find him and get away, I'll lead the guards away and get down to the others."

I nodded, and he pulled me forward for a kiss. We separated, and he pushed me off towards a staircase. I ran as fast as I could up the stairs, the sound of the guards pursuing Edmund loud in my ears. I came out onto the top of the tower, and closed the door behind me, trying to make sure it would stay shut. I ran to the edge of the tower, and looked out to the sky.

"HELP! NARNIAN GRIFFIN, HELP!" I screamed, but there was no reply. I glanced over to another tower, and saw Edmund atop it. He met my eyes, and looked confused. The door from my tower opened, and six guards approached me.

I looked down, suddenly not fearing the height anymore. I knew I was going to die; there was no other alternative: no griffin to fly me away to safety. I only had a choice, of how to die.

I could fall into that endless abyss, discover what was down there, feel like I was flying. Or I could get stabbed, captured and suffer endless pain under torture.

I chose falling.

I stepped through the stone 'teeth', said my goodbyes, and let myself fall.

I let out a scream as I fell, and heard Edmunds shout of horror.

It felt right that I would die after flying.

I just didn't count on my 'alternative form of transport' to catch me.

I let out a loud 'ooof!' as Edmund grabbed my waist, and pulled me onto the griffin in front of him.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," he hissed in my ear as we flew back up towards the castle.

I just turned my face into his chest and cried. He held me tight on the griffin as we approached the castle, and flew over the courtyard. I opened my eyes, and couldn't believe what I saw.

Death.

All Narnian creatures lay dead on the wet cobblestones, either bleeding from mortal wounds, or with several crossbow bolts hammered into their bodies. Among them, there were Telmarines dead too; even more than the Narnians.

We kept flying, and followed the track back in the direction of the How, behind what was left of the Narnian raid army.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**MARIA-**

I fired arrow after endless arrow into the fray, stabbing soldiers that got too close without mercy. I imagined they were mindless zombies, like the ones from the THRILLER video attacking me, and it helped. I didn't feel bad about killing people that were already dead, though I doubted these 'zombies' would gang together and randomly start dancing.

One guy got really close, and I saw Peter come out of nowhere and finish him off. Peter brushed his hand against my back, and I shivered with delight. Peter kept running up the staircase I was standing on, and I looked up to see Miraz standing there on the balcony. A minotaur followed Peter, and jumped up onto the balcony.

I kept fighting, but out of the corner of my eye I was watching what was happening. I glanced back onto the battlefield, and saw many things at once.

I saw Caspian running back into the castle.

I saw Susan fighting like a champion near Glenstorm.

I saw Emily and Edmund slide down and knock a few archers off a wall.

I saw Trumpkin fall from a window, and hard to the ground below.

And then I heard a roar from above me, and the minotaur fell to his death. It was unlucky, because he fell on me. I rolled down with him, and found myself pinned under the massive weight of his body. I was hidden from anyones view, and it hurt like hell. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Peter run past, and I screamed for help.

There was a big bang, and the portacullis began to fall down. Asterius ran and caught it, holding it above him with his massive strength. I heard Peters shout, of "FALL BACK! RETREAT!"

I struggled even more, knowing I had to hurry.

"HELP!" I screamed to a pair of fauns running past. They stopped dead, and seemed to recgonise me.

"My Lady!" One shouted, and they helped move the dead minotaur off of me. Tehy helped me up, and we limped towards the gate as fast as we could. I saw Peter almost through the gate. He was running beside a horse led by Caspian, who had some random girl sitting behind him, and jumped onto it, continuing through the gate. I ran hard for the gate, but when I was merely three meters away, Asterius collapsed, and the portacullis rolled down, stopping on his body. I ran forward anyway, watching in joy as Reepicheep get through. The group of Narnians were milling at the closed Portacullis, and they all recognised me.

"Quick! Get her to the front!" A centaur shouted, and I recognised him to be one of Glenstorms sons. The group pushed me forward, protecting me from the hail of arrows that was taking them all down, one by one. I slammed up against the portacullis, and was astonished to see Peter, staring at the trapped soldiers in regret.

"PETER!" I screamed as loud as I could, and his eyes snapped to mine. His widened, and filled with tears, his mouth open as he stared at my trapped and done for position.

"GO! GET AWAY!" I screamed at him, and nocked another arrow on my string.

"Peter, the bridge!" Someone shouted, and Peter did what he was told, and jumped the bridge, riding away after his army, and leaving me behind to die.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**EMILY-**

Ed and I landed in the small campsite halfway to the How. The injured needed to be treated, and rest was needed. As soon as we touched ground, Ed and I were running towards the royal tent. We pushed through the flap, hand in hand, and Caspian and Peter turned around. They both looked angry as hell.

"Is everyone alright?" I cried, and Caspian nodded.

"Oh, thank god." I sighed, and Ed squeezed my hand.

"Wheres Sue and Maria?" I asked.

"Susan is in the medicine tent, treating people." Caspian said, but Susans voice stopped him.

"Not anymore, I'm right here." She said, entering the tent with her gentle grace.

"Wheres Maria?" I asked.

"Probably with the fauns," Caspian said, "She loves them."

"She's not with the fauns." Peter said suddenly.

We all looked at him.

"Well then where is she?"

Peter looked at me, his blue eyes full of tears. I frowned, but somewhere in my mind, something clicked.

"Peter," I said breathlessly, "Where is she?"

"She didn't get out, Emily." Peter said, his voice devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

"What?" Caspian hissed, as Susan gasped and clutched his arm. Ed's hand squeezed mine so tight I coudnt feel it.

"Maria...didnt...gone..?" I breathed, before my knees gave way, and Ed was holding me up. I couldn't even cry; I was in too much shock. Maria...

Finally, I let out an exhale of relief when everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Hey guys ^-^ Gabby here. Big thanks to Jordi for doing all of chapter 11, poor sick creature that she is. 3**

**Now read. Enjoy. REVIEW. IT'S REALLY NOT THAT HARD PEOPLE. Gabby and Jordi are still sad we have so few reviewers ): **

**Onward with the chapter!**

**Oh, and sorry about the massive delay. Its Jordi's school's fault. :|**

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**Maria-**

I watched Peter's horse gallop away and clear the rising bridge, disappearing from view. I stood frozen for a few seconds, my eyes trained on the spot he had vanished from as the reality of my situation came crashing down upon me.

I was trapped like a mouse(no offense to Reepicheep) along with the hundreds of other Narnians who had been left behind. I was going to die, there was no doubt of that. I was more likely to sprout man bits and become Narnia's next king then I was to make it out of this courtyard. And Peter had just.. left me.

I drew a deep, shuddering breath. All around me, the Narnians who had shoved me to the front for a final glimpse of my king were falling, arrows grotesquely sprouting from their bodies. A deep calm washed over me, and I turned and faced the onslaught of arrows.

I'd never been one to conform to the norm, and was known for my grand and slightly bizarre actions and styles. So hell no, I wasn't going to stand there and get shot down like Bambi's mom. I was going to make a statement, a dramatic exit.

I charged forward, my arrow notched and ready to be fired, shrieking like a hooligan. "FOR DUMBLEDORE!"

I took aim at one of the archers lining the wall and shot. My arrow pierced his forehead, and he collapsed off the wall, sliding down the tiled roof and came crashing down to earth-er, Narnia. I whipped another arrow from the quiver on my back and shot the man next to him, hitting him in the shoulder and sending him slamming down onto the stone floor of the courtyard. The third man had by then realized the pattern and was already releasing a crossbow belt, which I narrowly dodged by jumping to the side and taking refuge behind a stone pillar.

From there, I took a moment to look around the courtyard and assess the damage. Narnian and Telmarine bodies strewn the floor, their causes of death varying from mortal blows from swords to well aimed crossbows. There were still a few brave souls fighting from both armies, but as I watched many of these dropped like flies to join their deceased companions. Glenstorm's son, the one who had shoved me to the front of the crowd by the gate, was galloping forward towards the opposite end of the courtyard, and as he ran crossbow belts from the merciless archers accumulated in his body. He only made it halfway through the courtyard before, with an agonized whinny, his legs gave out and he crashed to the ground, where his head lolled and he became absolutely motionless.

I yelped shrilly as I watched the brave warrior fall and felt a fiery anger consume me. I jumped from my hiding place and sprinted across the courtyard, dodging the many crossbow belts that were fired, and whipped out an arrow of my own, taking aim at the bearded figure that was watching the whole scene unfold atop a balcony with a malicious smile painted on his lips.

I aimed my arrow right at Miraz's chest, and as I was preparing to release the bow, he and his general caught sight of me. Miraz's smile only spread and he grabbed the crossbow the man had been holding and aimed down at me. We were like two cowboys in an old Western movie having a face off on the dusty dirt road in the middle of the town, guns drawn, fingers itching to kill.

He fired before I could. His shot caught me in my right shoulder, and with a cry of pain I released my own bow. As I dropped like a sack of potatoes to the ground, I heard an angry bellow, and looked up to see Miraz also nursing a wound in his upper arm, my arrow protruding from the bloodstained shirt. A dull satisfaction pounded through the throbbing pain that was consuming me as I landed very uncomfortably on what I pretended wasn't another body, and indeed I was quite proud to say I had gotten one in on the usurper. It made up for earlier, when his wife had shot Caspian.

"GET HER!" Miraz was roaring, and I heard obliging men sprinting down the stone stairs from all directions to the spot where I lay. It was then that the absolute silence reached my ears, and I lifted my swimming head to see no signs of life from any parts of the courtyard. I looked to my left and let out a broken gasp- laying next to me was the mutilated body of Glenstorm's son. I had fallen on his stiff hind legs, which were bent at awkward angles. It was horrific to think that every inch of the courtyard was like this, covered in bodies so bountiful that they were piled on top of each other.

Rough hands gripped my arms and yanked me to my feet as tears for the massive loss of lives filled my eyes and poured over. I hissed in pain as the ruthless Telmarines dragged me along behind them, carelessly disrupting my injured shoulder. They carried me into the castle and down many winding flights of stairs, through countless dark hallways, down some more stairs and into a rank smelling room which I didn't have to be out of highschool to realize was the castle dungeons. The men took my bow and arrows before roughly throwing me into the nearest cell and slamming the door shut after me, taking posts at the front of the cell. I laid in a crumpled heap on the cold floor and clutched my bleeding shoulder as the tears poured down my face.

My skin began to prick, and I knew that the Telmarine guards were watching me. I looked up at them and glared defiantly into their tanned faces, which held expressions of humor and slight pity. When they realized I knew they were looking, they quickly looked away.

I don't know how long I sat there before I heard footsteps echoing down into the dungeons, but eventually they came. I didn't look up as whoever it was entered the dungeon, followed by a few more people, by the sounds of it, and stood staring down at my miserable form.

"Well, well, well," came the thickly accented voice of the Telmarine usurper. "If it isn't Narnia's future queen."

I made no move to acknowledge him, instead just laid there like the bleeding sack of potatoes I was. What I wouldn't have given for some Ibuprofen at that point.

The screeching of rusty metal bellowed through the chamber, and I realized that he was coming into my cell with me. I shot up like a bullet and scooted as far away from him as I could get and felt my back press against the cold stone wall. The light from the tiny window on the wall illuminated the trail of blood I'd left from my shoulder. I stared up into the wrinkled and bearded face of Miraz with contempt boiling in me.

He smirked down at me. "This is it? This is all the great Aslan has to offer his people? This is all King Peter expects from life?" he laughed cruelly, and his hand shot out and gripped my face between his thumb and forefinger, like it was a dirty piece of clothing he was regarding. "Disappointing."

I choose not to say anything, partially because I was too pissed, and partially because my shoulder was still bleeding profusely and I was weak. I glared daggers at him, and willed real daggers to shoot from my eyes and stab him in the face. If only.

"Sire, what is the purpose of keeping the girl?" a man who I recognized as the general whose crossbow Miraz had used to shoot me asked timidly, looking down at me with evident sympathy in his black eyes. My glare turned pleading as I met his gaze, and he quickly blinked and looked away. His face hardened as he looked upon the face of Miraz, who rounded on him.

"Do you not see?" he hissed. "This girl is King Peter's lady! The future queen of Narnia! The one who will provide him with nasty little Narnian heirs!"

Woah, someone's being a little hasty. I felt my face grow a deep red at the mention of 'heirs.' Who said anything about having kids?

The general dude looked warily at him. "How do you know this?"

"Did you not see the way he acted around her during the attack? He kept watching her and killing any men that got within five feet of her, and I saw them exchange an intimate moment. It does not take a genius to piece together that they have feelings for each other!" Miraz shouted, a vein on his temple appearing. The general shrunk back at the harshness of his tone, and I felt bad for him. Except for he was a Telmarine. And he had doubtlessly killed a couple of Narnians himself tonight. "King Peter will lose his mind with grief upon realizing she is not among the survivors and the army will not have a strong leader! They will be weak, and start falling apart at the very seams! And then, dear Glozelle, we shall send a letter alerting them that she is still alive. And King Peter will be positively beside himself with joy and will start planning many noble and heroic ways to save her. But then he will finish the letter, which will end in a ransom. Our dearly beloved Caspian for her. They will have three days to choose. And if, for some reason he decides to keep Caspian, then she will die, and we will lead a surprise attack on their camp. And if he chooses her, we will deliver her safely to the Narnian camp just as we promised, secure Caspian and kill him on the spot, but before handing her over we will kill her, also. The Narnians will be so enraged they will declare war on the spot, unprepared as though they will be, and we will easily crush them."

I felt the blood rush from my face and my head go fuzzy as I listened to this explanation of Miraz's plans. He truly was as evil as Caspian had said he was, and possessed the cunningness so highly valued among the Telmarine people. So no matter how you slice it, I would die, and Narnia would ultimately lose, either through a crushingly hopeless battle or through the loss of their leader. It was pure evil. The Imperial March from the Star Wars soundtrack suddenly filled my head as I gazed into Miraz's evil face.

"You cheating bastard," I whispered, staring up at him through clouded eyes. He sneered down at me before his hand lashed out and struck me across my face. The blow knocked my head into the wall and my vision blackened completely, and I weakly fought off unconsciousness.

"It is very cunning, my lord." another man said from behind Glozelle. I vaguely saw through my badly blurred vision Miraz step away from me and turn to the man.

"I know. Now then, for the execution. You, Glozelle, assemble your army tomorrow. Have them ready by high noon. Sopespian, you will write the letter to our dear friend, Peter, tomorrow also, but after arranging a coronation ceremony and party." he instructed curtly.

"Sir?" the man called Sopespian asked, with an uncertain glance at Glozelle.

"Narnia is in far worse condition than I thought. She needs a new king, and it has become evident to me that I am the only man fit for the job. The sooner I am crowned, the better. Tomorrow I will be made King of Narnia." he hissed before, with a dramatic swipe of his cloak, he stomped from my cell.

Miraz ascended the stairs, watched by all he had left behind, but when he reached the top stair, he stopped and turned back to us, as if having a thought. He looked down at Glozelle.

"Kill those two men on guard. It would be best if no one knew of our plan." he said dryly, indicating with his head to the two men who stood flanking my cell. They shot eachother petrified looks and gasped, simultaneously crying out,

"My Lord!" but Miraz ignored them, instead turning to Sopespian.

"As for you, knock the girl out. Hit her hard enough so that all recollections of this discussion are wiped from her memory." and with that, he turned on his heel and left.

Glozelle turned to the two men with tears in his eyes and drew his sword as Sopespian approached me leeringly. The last thing I saw before my head was slammed into the ground with force enough to crack it was Glozelle raising his sword and bringing it down into the chest of the first guard, who was wailing at the top of his lungs to his mother who would never know what happened to her son.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Shh, shh, Em, its okay, its alright,"Edmund cooed as he stroked my forehead. I lay still for a moment, trying to remember what was going on. My head was resting on Edmund's lap, the others crowded around me with worried and sad looks on their dirty faces. Peter was leaning on the table, his head bent, obviously trying to calm himself.

And then I remembered.

"MARIA!" I screamed, and they all flinched at the agony in my voice. I leapt to my feet, tears running down my face, my head whipping around looking for her. I was hysterical, I don't deny it, and when I got hysterical I normally began searching for things that weren't there.

So I ran from the tent, around the camp, looking around anywhere, everywhere for something, or someone I would never find. And when the camp ended, I kept running. Somewhere in the back of my mind a little buzzer went off, telling me that leaving the safety of the camp was not a good idea, but I ignored it.

But then, I had a complete New Moon moment, and tripped over in the forest. I curled up on the ground, taking deep breaths and trying to calm myself.

When I maintained control, I sat up, crossing my legs like at school, and just sat there, thinking. There was a warm feeling in the hollow of my neck, and I reached up to massage it.

My fingers met the warm metal of the lion necklace, and I let them stay there for a while, soaking in the warmth of the metal. It seemed to get hotter and hotter as I thought of Maria, and I flinched.

Wait a second.

It wasn't exactly a warm night, so wouldn't the metal be getting colder, not hotter? I held the pendant up into the light of the Narnian moon, and stared at the glowing eyes of the great lion. I stared into them, and the pendant became hotter as I lost myself in the tiny jewelled eyes.

_My daughter; she lives._

Aslans voice sounded gently in my head, and I knew it was true. Maria wasn't dead.

MARIA WASN'T DEAD!

I leapt to my feet, and piss-bolted back to the camp, my cheeks flushed with excitement, and my eyes lit with hope. I burst back into the tent, where Susan and Caspian were sitting next to eachother, both looking dumbstruck, while Peter and Edmund were standing practically nose to nose, obviously involved in a heated conversation.

"I can not believe you just-" Edmund was hissing when I burst into the room. He turned to look at me, shocked at my reappearance.

"Em, whats going on?" he asked, stepping towards my bouncy form.

"She's not dead!" I shouted, and they all stared at me like I was insane.

"What?" Susan whispered in shock.

"Aslan! He spoke to me! And my necklace, it is hot, and she has the other one! Surely if she were dead, it would be cold?"

"Aslan…spoke to you?" Edmund asked, and I nodded.

A great smile cracked his face, and he let out a loud whoop, pulling my into a hug and swinging me around. We glanced over to see Susan and Caspian exchanging a hug and looks of glee, and I looked back at Peter.

"So, whats the plan, Pete?" Ed asked.

"Plan?" Peter asked, his face still for some reason stony.

"To get Maria back!" I cried, confused with his put out behaviour.

"We don't have time. Miraz is coming, we need to get back to the How."

"And then we'll sort out a plan to get her back, right?" Susan asked her older brother.

"Sure." Peter said, and turned away.

* * *

The walk back to the How was full of shame and disappointment, and also fear. I personally was terrified that an army of Telmarines was going to pop from the trees and squash us like bugs, but Ed's firm grip on my hand was keeping me feeling pretty safe.

We heard hoofsteps behind us, and an uncomfortable looking Caspian trotted up beside us. He looked at us apologetically, and we stared back, confused.

"Edmund, Emily…I would like you to meet…Lady Escidia."

A girl a couple of years older than me peeked her head out from behind Caspian, looking up at him regally.

"Well, Caspian, do help me down so I can meet your colleagues." She sneered, and Capsian climbed off the horse and helped her down gently. She was tall, thin, and unfortunately absolutely gorgeous. Her long straight, dark hair sat perfectly down her back, her dark brown eyes alight with interest.

She was staring at Ed, who was staring right back, obviously stunned by her intense beauty.

"Prince Edmund," she said, curtsying low, exposing a heavy amount of cleavage.

"Its King Edmund, actually." I put in, and held my hand out to her. "I'm Em-Lady Emily."

Escidia's eyes flashed down to me, looking minature next to Ed, and awfully plain.

"You're a Lady?' she sneered, and let out a giggle. "What is this land coming to?' she asked the air, throwing up her perfect hands. Ouch. Okay, I didn't like this person.

"Yes, I am." I replied, my eyes flashing dangerously. Caspian seemed to sense my anger, and I felt his big hand on my arm gently.

"So, King Edmund," she purred, "I really need someone to tell me all about Narnia, I didn't really listen much to my tutor back home." She stepped between Ed and I, and grabbed his arm, in the process making Ed release his hold on my hand. She began tugging him away, and turned back for a moment to look at me. Her face lit up with an evil little smile as she chattered away to a too-comfortable-looking Edmund.

"Bitch." I said grumpily, and Caspian chuckled.

"She isn't very nice, is she?" he said. I shook my head, just staring at the retreating couple.

"Come along, Em," Caspian said gently, gesturing to his horse. I looked at the massive beast, unsure. I never really liked horses. Okay, that was an understatement. I was terrified of them.

"You'll be safe, I promise," he said, and held out his hand. I nodded, still unsure, and he picked me up like I weighed nothing, and placed me on the front of the horse. Caspian swung himself up after me, and his arms were a protective cage around me.

"Thanks Cas," I said to my friend, "You're a legend."

Caspian smiled in response, and I rolled my head around to look at him. He was looking at Susan, who was walking alongside several fauns.

"Cas, do you ever actually talk to her?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he replied, still focusing on Susan.

"Susan. You should flirt more." I said, and Caspian chuckled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said slowly.

"Yes you do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Caspian, you don't know me, I can keep this going all day."

"Do not."

I poked Caspian in the arm, and he winced. I frowned in disapproval, and looked at the deep cut in his arm in concern.

"Sue!" I called, and she turned around.

"Cas hurt his arm, can you fix it?" I said, and Caspian poked me in the ribs.

"Of course," Susan said gently.

"Go for it, Cas." I said, and he smiled at me.

"Thanks Em." He said, and slipped off the horse. I let out a tiny shriek, seeing as the massive horse kept moving, but then I felt a warm chest against my back. I turned around to see Ed behind me, smiling at me happily.

"Finally get away from Escidia?" I sneered, and he frowned.

"No, she went to talk to someone else. She is quite nice."

I turned around and looked at him like he was insane.

"What?" he asked. "Its not like I left you behind, like Peter did Maria."

I froze. "What?" I hissed.

"Peter told us he saw Maria, when he was on the bridge." Edmund said, shaking his head in anger.

"So, he could have SAVED HER?!" I cried, and Ed nodded sadly.

Somehow, I got off the horse, and ran ahead to where Peter was striding along alone.

"Emily, what is-" he began, but I cut him off. I was going to go she-bitch on his ass.

"YOU SELFISH BASTARD!" was all I could scream, my anger than intense. So I gathered all my energy, and kicked the stunned King right in his…er…package.

Peter roared in pain, and dropped to the ground. I made to kick him more, and landed a punch on his eye, before I had three pairs of hands dragging me backwards.

* * *

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	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Ahoy thar, maties! Gabby here :D PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS. SEE IT.**

**Enjoy, review, see the movie, and Jordi's rabid koalas won't have to attack you xD**

**Maria-**

I awoke with a start after hours of lying unconscious on the stone floor of the dungeon. I had been having a really weird dream involving bungee jumping elephants and stunt giraffes when suddenly a loud bang that was not a product of my subconscious startled me awake.

I shot up from where I was laying, sprawled out in the corner of my cell where I had slumped after having my head bashed into the wall to knock me out, and had to lean back against said wall again for a minute. I was uber dizzy, and the lurching up motion made little black spots dance in front of my vision. They looked like little pixies. After a minute, they went away, and I was able to shake my head clear and see who my visitor was.

I was expecting Miraz, or one of his lords or some other old gross guy like that, but the person I found myself staring at was far from it. He looked to be about my age, and was tall and spindly, like he was still growing into his body. He was dark, and had a mop of shaggy black hair that hung down into his eyes, which were a warm, rich brown colour. He looked a lot like a younger, darker version of Caspian. They both even had the same crooked grin.

At first I was so surprised at the appearance of a handsome Telmarine, I just sat there and stared like a brain dead vegetable. Then I gathered my wits about me and said something real intimidating and intelligent, like, "Who are you?"

The Telmarine dude just smirked some more and produced from Aslan knows where a tray of-gasp!-food. "Delivery." he said before sliding the tray through a crack in the bottom of the bars.

I was so preoccupied at the prospect of an actual meal that I didn't care he didn't answer me, and instead dove right into the turkey leg. There was only one turkey leg, but it was complimented with a loaf of bread and some water. Tearing into that turkey leg made me realize how hungry I was. It felt like I hadn't eaten in days. Hm..

I turned toward the Telmarine dude, who was watching me pig out like it was the funniest thing he'd seen in his life, and broke the traditional rule of not speaking with food in your mouth. "Just curious, how long have I been out?"

He ran his fingers-unnecessarily-through his raven locks, then flipped them to the side. Showoff. "About 3 days." he replied.

I choked on my turkey. 3 days? Are you kidding me?! I felt very much like a damsel in distress, which I certainly wasn't. There was nothing damsel-y about me.

"Seriously?" I muttered, more to myself than him. He nodded anyways, his smirk growing. Ok, that was getting annoying. If he didn't cut it out, I might have to knock _him_ out for 3 days. If he got lucky.

"Mmmhmm." he said, leaning casually against the bars of my cell and staring down at me with a raised eyebrow, which made me feel uncomfortable. I hated eating in front of people. Especially guys. Cute guys.

I subconsciously rubbed the back of my head where it had hit the stone, wincing as I felt a humongous lump and bruise. Ouch. I felt the eyes of the Telmarine dude still on me and looked up in annoyance at him.

"Well?" I said, casting a not so subtle look to the door. What was he still doing here, anywho? He raised his eyebrows at me in response, and I could tell he was biting his lip to keep from laughing, which only pissed me off more. "Shouldn't you be leaving now? You came, you delivered my food, you conquered. Leave now. Buh bye."

I've got to give him credit, he looked pretty un-phased for a guy with a bitchy teenager down his throat. He just stood there and continued smiling down at me like he didn't have a care in the world. Which he probably didn't.

"I figured you would like some company." he replied innocently, smiling down at me with dazzlingly white teeth. Well that was unexpected. For a second I just sat there dumbfounded for a second before I thought of anything to say, and when I did it wasn't much of an improvement to my silence.

"But.. You're a Telmarine.. You're supposed to be mean.."

He looked bitter for a slight moment, then laughed, but it was one of those fake laughs people use when they're not really that amused. "Not all of them are. And besides, I'm only half Telmarine."

That perked my interest. "Really? What's the other half?" I asked, throwing down the now completely meatless turkey leg and moving on to the piece of bread.

He sat down as close to me as the bars between us could allow, Indian style, doing another hair flip on his way down. "Archenlandian. My father was a young Telmarine officer and once while patrolling the boarders with Archenland, he looked across the way and saw a beautiful young maiden. They instantly fell in love, and then had me."

"Did they get married?" I asked, smiling at the fairy tail meeting of his parents.

His smile faded and he cast his eyes down. "My mother died during childbirth with me. They were not able to." he answered in a small voice. I instantly felt bad and reached a hand through the bars and placed it on his leg in a comforting gesture. Poor kid. That must've been hard, growing up without a mother.

"I'm sorry.." I said softly. He seemed to shake off the sadness, for when he looked up at me his eyes once again held their youthful merriment.

"It is not you're fault, nor something that could've been helped. Well, what is your family like?"

I opened my mouth to respond and found the only thing to come out was a small squeak. What was my family like? I could remember faint glimpses of them.. But no images of them came to mind. What the hell?! What was wrong with me?!

"Oh my Aslan, I don't know!" I wailed, bringing my hands to my forehead. I felt tears prick my eyes. How could I forget my own family?

"Oh dear.." the guy murmured, looking at me with pity in his eyes. "You must have hit your head harder than we thought."

And when he said that, the memories of Miraz's evil plan to overthrow the Narnians through my hostage came flooding back to me, and I pretty much started bawling. I think I was PMSing or something. I dunno.

"What is it?" he asked, looking bewildered and concerned.

Alright, so I had a really stupid moment and pretty much risked both his life and mine. I told him about what Miraz's plans were. What can I say? I was weak and sobbing hysterically and, well, he was there, willing to listen to me talk. When I'd finished relaying all I'd heard to him, he looked appalled.

"That bastard!" he cried, jumping up and kicking a stone wall in his anger. "That is just not acceptable! I have never liked Miraz or the way he rules, but that is.. that is just.."

"The straw that broke the camels back?" I supplied. He looked confused for a second, then nodded.

"Haven't heard that one before." he said.

"Yeah, it's pretty common where I come from.. Scratch that, I'm like the only one who says it other than my mom."

He didn't say anything, just nodded again and kept on pacing. As I watched him, still nibbling on my bread, a thought occurred to me.

"Wait wait wait waaaaait a second," I said, stopping him in his tracks. "I never did ask you what your name is!"

He threw his head back in an earnest laugh. "You are right! And I still do not know yours!" he then bent over in a graceful bow. "I am Perseus, at your service My Lady."

I giggled and bowed with my head, seeing as I didn't feel like getting up. "I'm Maria, good sir."

Perseus was a cool guy. He came and visited me every day, under the guise of bringing me food and paying me medical attention, which he actually did do. He cleaned my shoulder wound and checked my head every day. He wanted to be a doctor when he was older, and was apprenticed under the castle doctor(not Cornelius), which was why he was staying in the castle to begin with. I learned he had a younger half sister who currently lived in Archenland for her own safety, as regulated by their father, who was killed a couple of years ago by Miraz. Perseus said he had always been dubious about Miraz's ruling methods and the way they handled the Narnians, but the murder of his father was what turned him over to the Narnias side of the war. He was really sarcastic and a total smart ass. Over all, I liked him. And, he was hot, as much as I hated to admit it. Not like, Peter hot, but still.

Thinking of Peter made my heart rip out of my chest and beat way too fast. I still couldn't believe he'd just left me there. I mean sure, I'd told him to, but I'm a girl-we say things we don't mean all the time. Not to say that I hadn't meant it. Of course I had. Aslan knows what I would have done had he stayed and been captured, or worse, just to watch me struggle like a fish caught on a hook behind the bars of the gate.

When I confided in Perseus about Peter, he got really pissed off. He looked super mad when I said that I had a love interest, and demanded to know if my affections were returned. When I begrudgingly answered no, they weren't, he seemed to cool off a bit, but suddenly had to leave. Then I realized.. Perseus liked me. Yikes.

He'd since then cooled off, but outright flirted with me every time he visited me in a wily attempt to convert me to the dark side. Sometimes I found myself unintentionally flirting back. I couldn't help it, he was just so funny and charming. He made being held prisoner not so bad.

Well on the second day of my conscious imprisonment, I woke up to the sound of footsteps. I sat up with a bright smile on my face, expecting Perseus to come tromping down the stairs with a tray of breakfast for me. But the smile instantly died and was replaced with a look of angry horror when I found myself face to face with Miraz, flanked by Glozelle and Sopespian.

"Hello, little Narnian queen," Miraz sneered down at me. "It is time we had a talk."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Emily-**

I watched Peter fall to the ground for a second before stumbling off. I was still furius times a zillion, but for a second I felt kinda bad..

No. He basically got my best friend killed.

Jerk.

I saw the How was in only a small distance, so I started to run. I needed to get away from everyone, especially Peter. I started running faster, and I heard hoofbeats behind me, and felt myself pulled up onto the back of a horse.

"Nice kick," Susan whispered to me as we clung to the horses back. I was disappointed that it was her, I had to say.

"Wheres Ed?" I asked.

"Hes walking," Susan said quietly.

"Alone?" I asked her, and she shifted uncomfortably in the saddle.

"No…er…I believe with Escidia."

I shut up then, everyone seeming to get on my last nerve. Stupid people.

We slowed right down, and eventually the large, battered group caught up to us. Susan, being her awesome self, left me on the horse alone to go and thank all those who fought, and help with the injured. My horse drifted to the very back of the group, before finally staying about five meters behind them all. I fidgeted uncomfortably on the saddle, closing my eyes so I didn't have to look down at the rocky ground beneath the horse, and the harsh midday sun above me. I felt my weariness catch up with me, and I began to sway.

I let my body relax, my mind forgetting momentarily the fact that I was on a massive horse, with jagged rocks beneath me. My legs stopped gripping the horse, and I slumped sideways…

There was a sharp jolt, and my eyes flicked open. I was rolling off a hill of sharp rocks, the pain horrible as I heard crunches and yelps. They were my own.

I rolled off the edge of a larger hill, and screamed once as I freefell about three meters, to the grey rock awaiting me below. My vision went black.

My eyes flickered open to the weak afternoon light. I was laying on my side, on the hard rocks, apparently, my whole body aching, especially my head. I weakly pulled my hand from underneath me to touch my head, where I felt a sticky substance.

Oh great. Another headwound.

I tried to move a little, but cried out in pain as I looked down at my right leg. It was twisted at an awkward angle, and I had to look away.

"Help…" I rasped, my throat sore as hell. I swallowed a few times, knowing I only had a few good yells in me, and prepared.

Back home in Australia, when we were out with our friends, running around in the bush or something, the easiest way to get help, or someones attention, was to let out a yell of "COOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEE!". It worked everytime.

So that's what I did. I gathered all the breath I had, mangled on the ground, and let out an ear splitting screech, of

"COOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEE!" I coughed and spluttered as my throat protested.

And I was so happy to hear, in the distance…

"EMILLYYYYYYYYY!"

It was Ed.

I mustered all my breath again for one final shout.

"EDMUNDDD!" I yelled. I slumped back onto the rock, the pain in my head and leg unbearable. After a few minutes, I heard Edmunds sweet voice and footsteps.

"EM!" he shouted when he saw me from the top of the small cliff thing. He leapt down to my side, leaning down towards me.

"Emily, oh Aslan, I was so worried.." Ed whispered, and I frowned at him.

"I'm sure you were. Was Escidia worried too?" I said wearily.

Ed looked down.

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

Edmund lifted me gently, and carried me 'princess style' all the way back to the How. Every time I winced at the pain in my leg, so did Edmund. It was like me were connected in an unexplainable way.

We finally made it to the How, where everyone was still standing outside, fidgeting nervously and surrounded in a ringing silence. At least, it was silent for a moment, before Peter's voice carried back to where we stood in the back.

"Narnia's better off without the lot of you!"

Whaaat? Edmund sighed frustratedly and shoved his way through the crowd until we were at the front. We cleared the last couple of fauns in time to see Caspian round on Peter, shrieking like a banshee and drawing his sword. Peter drew his sword also, bring it to Caspian's neck as Caspian did the same until Edmund stopped them with an angry shout of

"Stop it!!!" The two snapped out of their little manly man fight and turned to the rest of us.

Caspians eyes widened for a second as he looked at my twisted form, and the whiteness of my face. But then he noticed Peter still glaring at him, and he shoved his sword back into the scabbard roughly, before stalking off back into the How, unsuccessfully ignoring the disappointed and horrified faces of his followers.

I coughed, and the sound worried me. It was a wet, sloppy, rattling cough. The sound people made in movies when they coughed up…

I coughed again, covering my mouth with my hand weakly. And then I looked down, to see my hand covered in dark red blood. I heard Edmund's gasp, and I felt like I was in a daze.

"That can't be good.." I whispered, but all was to be well.

Lucy came running towards us, Ed placing me gently on the ground. I coughed and shuddered as I saw more red splatter my already filthy clothes. Lucy leant down to me and poured two drops into my red mouth.

I swallowed as best as I could, which sucked. There was so much blood in my mouth, I had to swallow that too. It hurt so bad, scraping my throat horribly.

But after that little bit of pain, I let my eyes close, as I had the peculiar sensation that filled my entire body.

And suddenly, I felt better, and I knew I was.

Edmund and Lucy helped me to my feet, and I was surprised at how good I felt. I felt like I could save Maria by myself with both hands tied behind my back and Edmund strapped to my leg. Okay, maybe not.

So once Ed and Lucy had figured out how fine I was, we started to walk into the how behind Peter, who looked like he'd aged about thirty years in one night. That'll teach him not to leave my best friend behind. Ass.

We made our way towards the Stone Table room, passing the cave drawings as we did, their faded colours seeming to flicker in the torchlight.

I have to admit, I was pretty happy that Escidia hadn't followed us. We needed to talk to Cas and Peter, get them to sort out their differences. But Peter didn't seem to enthusiastic.

"Look, I am not apologising," Peter glared, "I-"

But he cut off real suddenly, staring forward into the Stone Table room with a stunned expression. I snorted with laughter at first, but then made a pretty similar face as I followed his gaze. Caspian stood in the center of the Stone Table Room, looking up in rapture at a huge block of ice that was growing between two huge pillars in front of the Aslan carving. Floating in the middle of the ice was none other than the White Witch herself, but she was sort of transparent and she flickered in the torchlight. Hovering on either of Caspian's sides were a hag and a werewolf, both wearing monk looking robes. The hag had a wicked looking dagger which was stained with blood, and as I watched Caspian extended a heavily bleeding hand out to the Witch, who was leaning down to him.

"STOP!!" Peter bellowed at the top of his lungs, whipping Rhindon out and charging forward. The hag met his attack, and he tackled her back into the shadowy area of the room so I couldn't see them anymore. Edmund drew his own sword and sprang forward as the werewolf leapt onto the Stone Table and then at him, and Ed barely managed to swing the sword up and hit it on the leg. Lucy ran out from behind me and tried to make her way toward Caspian, but Nikabrik the dwarf popped out of nowhere and attacked her with his dagger. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, and Trumpkin jumped to Lucy's aid and stabbed his fellow dwarf.

And where was I in all this? Standing, staring at my friends as they fought with my mouth hanging open and eyes bulging like a freaking guppy. I wanted to do something, but the site of the White Witch had rooted me to the spot. After all, this was the chick that had almost killed Edmund and destroyed Narnia.

Hold up. She almost killed Edmund. That bitch had almost killed MY man! Suddenly, a new strength urged me forward just as Peter shoved Caspian out of the Witch's grasping range. I ran around the outskirts of the room until I came up behind the giant icecube. Shaking with rage, I drew my daggers and stabbed them into the ice, and out of the corner of my eye saw a third blade pierce the Witch. I turned to see Edmund, looking just as furious as I was, twisting his sword into the ice.

The force of our blows caused the ice to shatter. The Witch let out a loud shriek as she practically blew up. Edmund shoved me behind him and shielded me as ice chunks rained down at us, revealing an extremely dishevelled Peter staring up at us.

"I know," Edmund growled at his brother as he opened his mouth to say something, blue eyes blazing. "You had it sorted." He stayed long enough to see Peter's expression crumble to one of guilt, shock, and hurt, before storming off out of the chamber. Peter looked up at me with that sad expression, as if looking for comfort. Anger turned my vision red and bile rose into my throat.

"Last time you had to make a really important decision for us, you got Maria killed," I spat lowly, feeling highly satisfied when he winced as if I'd kicked him in the happy place again. "I'm not letting you screw things up for us like that again."

And with that I stormed out after Edmund, leaving Peter and Caspian to wallow in their mistakes. As I came to the exit of the chamber, I met Susan, who was staring at the two with eyes filled with angry tears that threatened to pool over. She stayed only long enough for them to turn around and realize she was there, then she too stormed away.

I stormed into the main chamber of the How just in time to see Edmund and Escidia leaving it, standing really close together and talking in low voices. Ok, not the best thing to see while still super mad at Peter.

Feeling even angrier than I had in the Stone Table Room, I turned to vent to Maria and stopped short when I realized she wasn't there. For a split second, I eagerly looked around the How for her, but froze as the events of the night crashed down upon me and I realized she was nowhere to be found. It felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice water all over me, and I had to swallow past a lump in my throat. I wasn't sure what hurt worst-Losing Maria, Peter and Caspian's near betrayal, or Edmund running off with that.. that.. 50 cent street hooker.

"Emily? Are you alright?" asked a small voice from beside me. I turned to see Lucy, gazing up at me with a concerned expression. I smiled slightly, glad I wasn't completely alone.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine kiddo. Just.. worried about Maria, is all." I replied, trying to make it sound like that was all that was bothering me.

Note to self and anyone else who happens to get sucked into Narnia-never ever try and hide something from Lucy Pevensie, cause chances are she already knows about it. "And you're worried about Edmund being with Escidia." she stated flatly.

I stared down at her guardedly for a moment, then shrugged, deciding that I might as well vent to her. "Well yeah, I mean come on! It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that she's flirting with him." I said.

"Yeah, she is pretty obvious about it." Lucy replied, looking annoyed at the thought. "You'd think she'd have realized by now that you and Edmund are an item, though!"

I felt myself blush a little bit, earning a smirk from her. "Are we that obvious?"

"Um, YEAH!" Lucy shouted, laughing and earning an even bigger blush from me. "He doesn't exactly try to hide it, but I'm not surprised or complaining. After all, you are his first girlfriend."

I about crapped my pants. "Lucy say what?!" I cried, dumbfounded.

"Yep, Edmund isn't exactly outgoing. You're the first girl he's ever liked and actually talked to, come to think of it. But don't tell him I told you. He'd be awfully embarrassed"

I felt an evil smirk grow on my face. Oh, there would be teasing.

At that moment, Peter appeared from the Stone Table Room and approached us, looking at me with a guarded expression.

"Emily," he said. "You said you can somehow tell whether Maria is alive or not, right?"

"Yeah, with our necklaces. It would get cold if she were d-if something had happened to her."

Peter looked hopeful. "Is she still alive? Have they done anything to her?"

In response, I reached up and grabbed my necklace. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on Maria. The necklace instantly grew warm, but a feeling of terror spread through my body. Visions of dark hallways and a small, cold prison cell appeared before my eyes, followed by a brief glimpse of a young handsome guy who looked a lot like Caspian. I let out a hiss as a sharp pain pierced my shoulder and a tender throbbing started on the back of my head, and the dull pains of hunger rumbled in my stomach.

I tore my eyes open and released the pendant with a gasp, my eyes meeting Peter's. "She's alive, but she's in trouble." I said, and quickly explained to him all that I'd felt and seen as Maria. Caspian and Susan came up and joined the group, and both looked thoughtful and concerned as I finished talking.

"But she's alive," Peter conceded, his blue eyes hard to read.

I nodded like a bobble head. "Yes, but she's in some sort of trouble. We need to go and save her!" I said urgently.

"We could fly in on the gryphon's and storm the dungeons," Lucy pipped up eagerly.

"And maybe we'll find other Narnians who've been imprisoned and we can save them, too." said Susan, looking up at Caspian for approval.

We all turned to Peter, realizing his expression was anything but approving. "Are you kidding? It's way too dangerous!" he said.

"WHAT?!" Lucy wailed, looking up at her brother with the beginnings of anger sparking in her eyes. "You're just going to leave Maria down there?"

"Peter, think about what you're saying," Susan growled, her hands balled up into fists.

I couldn't do anything but stare at him, that's how shocked I was. After all this time he'd spent with her, he was just going to leave her imprisoned with Miraz to die? Suddenly I regained my voice.

"Are you stupid or something? How can you say it's too dangerous to go in there and save her?! It's MARIA. You know, the girl you like? My best friend? Yeah, she's in a shitload of trouble and all you're going to do is make sure she's still alive?!"

Peter's eyes flashed. "It's too dangerous! We can't afford to send men back there just to save one person! The Telmarines would be expecting us again, anyways, and it would be ten times as difficult as the night raid was! Besides," he added as an afterthought, more to reassure himself more than me. "If they've left her alive this long, then chances are they're not going to kill her before we can save her."

"And when's that going to be, Peter? After the war is over and there is no more risk to your men in saving her? She can't wait that long, and you and I both know it. She'll die in there before the end of the war, if they're not killing her as we speak," I said, remembering again the feeling of terror that had seized me when our minds linked.

Peter suddenly looked so frail and worn down that it seemed the slightest breeze would blow him down. "I'm sorry, Emily. Saving Maria would mean risking men we don't have to risk. We'll save her eventually." And with that, he walked off, bringing one hand to his face and the other through his hair.

The rest of us stood in shock for a few moments before, without a word to the others, I turned and ran from the How.

* * *

I found Edmund walking through the field with Escidia. I ran up to him and, with silent glee shoved the Telmarine away from him and took her place at his side.

"We need to talk," I murmured lowly. "Like, now."

Edmund looked at me with keen interest in his eyes before turning to Escidia, who looked royally ticked. "I'm sorry, I've got to talk to Emily right now. It was great talking with you," he added and to my great disdain leaned down and pulled her in for a hug.

Black eyes gleaming, she purred into his ear, "It is a shame our time together must be cut short. Perhaps when you return from your talk, we can partake in another rendezvous?"

I was silently screeching in my rage as Edmund replied with a smirk, "That would be great. See you then." and pulled back from the hug. Absolutely fuming, I waited until she was all the way across the field and entering the How before turning to Edmund.

"Sorry to interrupt you two," I seethed. "But I wanted to ask you something."

Edmund's expression was impassive as he brushed the hair from his face and replied, "Sure. Shoot."

Still pissed, I quickly relayed all of the events from meeting up with Lucy to him. He looked just as furious as the rest of us at Peter's thick headedness.

"So you mean to tell me he's just going to leave Maria there until it's convenient for him to save her?" he spat, his eyes flashing. I nodded, my expression dark. "Son of a bitch!" he cried, bringing his hands to his hair and knotting them there.

Part of me was satisfied with turning Peter's own brother against him. "I wish I was lying to you, but unfortunately I'm not. So here's the thing. I want to go and get her back, preferably tonight, before anything else happens to her. She's really scared, and clearly something bad is about to happen."

Edmund smiled ruefully at me. "Well, we can't just sit here and wait on Peter then, can we?" he said, turning his gaze to the woods in the direction where the gryphons had made their camp. Exchanging wicked glances, we crept forward across the field, careful not to be seen by anyone who might report to Peter.

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	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

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**Maria-**

I stared up at Miraz with a really intelligent expression on my face, I'm sure of that. I wanted to come up with some kind of witty comeback, but whenever I tried to say something I found my mouth just opened and closed a few times and my brain stopped functioning. Miraz glared down at me in response for a few moments before nodding to his ever present sidekicks, Glozelle and Sopespian, and they entered my cell and hoisted me to my feet. I winced and had to bite my lip to refrain from crying out as they jerked my still injured shoulder around.

After seeing to it that they had me up and on my feet, Miraz turned and stormed out of the dungeons just as dramatically as he had when entering. Glozelle and Sopespian followed, carrying my weight between the two of them so that my feet didn't even have to touch the ground. For some reason, this really annoyed me, so I started flailing my legs in an attempt to again get them on the ground. That didn't go so well, and I ended up only kicking myself instead. I cursed silently and glared at anything and everything I could, trying to seem ferocious.

We followed Miraz up the stairs and through a long, dark hallway with lots of doors and corridors leading into Aslan knows where; none of which we went through. The dark architecture and creepy interior designs really creeped me out, and I really started hoping that they would open the doors and we would suddenly be outside in a pretty flower meadow, but of course that didn't happen. Instead, we went all the way down the hallway and then veered left, into another longer, even darker corridor. We didn't follow this one all the way through, however, but went two doors down to the right and then down a long, winding stairway. My heart rate accelerated as we descended into the darkness, twisting down into an unknown world of horror. I had my hunches about where we were heading, but didn't dare voice my thoughts.

To my great terror, I realized I was right(for once..figures.) We came to the end of the stairs and entered a huge chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling, which went up so high the top of it was consumed in shadows. Dozens upon dozens of chains hung from the ceiling and the walls, from which dangled the occasional skeleton. I was unfortunate enough to see a body which was not yet fully a skeleton, and felt last night's dinner make a grand reappearance. With great efforts, I held the barf down and cast my frantic gaze away from the body to look at the various instruments of torture that were hung wherever chains were not; I couldn't even recognize half of them.

Without even turning, Miraz snapped his fingers, and in response Glozelle and Sopespian dragged me to a set of chains hanging on the wall. I found my limbs drained of any capabilities of struggling as they clasped the cold metal cuffs around my wrists. When they had me secured and stepped away, I found myself dangling from the wall with horrible pain erupting in my shoulders and wrists, my back to the chamber and my nose pressed against the wall. The cold feeling of the stone against my face was welcome, for I was sweating profusely at this point.

Miraz muttered something to one of the men, and my heart rate picked up as I heard his horrified response; "But she is only a girl, my lord!"

"Did I ask for your moral advice," snarled Miraz. "or for you to get me the whip? Do it, Glozelle, or would you rather take her place?"

Glozelle muttered an incoherent response, and the sound of boots crossing the stone floor told me he was obeying his orders. When Miraz spoke next, it was right from behind me and I felt my back muscles tense at the unwanted closeness.

"Now then, girl," he sneered at the back of my head. "Normally we would just kill you, but you seem to be of high worth to us. You are, of course, looked upon fondly by King Peter, and therefore would be possessed of valuable information regarding the Narnian army. We, being the kind and merciful men we are, are prepared to spare you your life in exchange for this information."

"Where I come from, torturing someone isn't exactly the definition of 'kind and merciful,'" I hissed back through gritted teeth.

Miraz chuckled darkly, and I just knew he was shaking his head and staring at me with scorn. "Your sharp tongue will get you into trouble," he growled. "Cooperation is the only option you have."

I half expected him to add on 'resistance is futile!' and start cackling maniacally. I sighed exasperatedly. "Why don't you just kill me and be done with it?" I said loudly, pulling the 'stubborn teenager' act.

I could hear Miraz's teeth crackle as he clenched his jaw. For a moment, nothing happened and silence echoed through the chamber. But then, there was a sharp whistling that sliced through the air in less than a heartbeat, and an explosion of pain ripped through my back sharper than a sword. I let out an ear piercing scream as the whip tore through the skin on my back like a knife through butter and blood poured from the long gash. I didn't stop screaming until a good few minutes after he had whipped me, and my vision was edged with black.

Like the gentlemen they were, they waited for my screams to die down until they began their interrogation. When Miraz spoke, his voice was utterly soft, and my ears had to strain to hear it after growing accustomed to my echoing screams.

"Now, then. You know what the consequence of your insubordination will be. Will you answer our questions?"

I didn't answer, and he seemed to take that as a yes. "Very well. We already know how many of your numbers you lost during your disastrous raid upon our castle. How many Narnians are left?"

I didn't answer. I didn't even know. It's not like I sat around counting the men in our army and did a head check after every outing. Unfortunately, my silence was broken by the whistling of the whip through the air; it cracked across my back with the same blowing force as the first time. I let out another terrible scream, which they again waited to die down before continuing.

"How many Narnians are still out there that have not joined your army?" Miraz asked next. Once again, I refrained from answering, and earned myself another whipping. My vision blurred with hot tears that spilled over and poured down my filthy face as I screamed again.

"What are Caspian and Peter's plans?" he demanded this time. This was a question I knew the answer to, and hissed my defiance lowly.

"Like I'd tell you, you filthy Telmarine bastard." Miraz brought the whip down on my back with a renewed hatred, bellowing his rage.

I don't know exactly how long the interrogation went on; I only know it was long enough for him to whip my back raw so that each new blow only deepened a previous gash. I was sure he would whip me to death, and was a flogging away from giving in to unconsciousness, when suddenly the door to the dungeons was thrown open and a yowl echoed through the darkness. Three sets of boots sprinted down the stairs and launched themselves at Miraz and his companions; Miraz gave a wail of fury that was suddenly cut off, and I heard a loud thumping as his body hit the floor. Sopespian let out a cry of 'My Lord!' before he, also, fell to the ground unconscious. Glozelle let out a growl that was accompanied by the sharp _zing_ of his sword being undrawn.

A very familiar voice issued a furious challenge. "Step away from my hillbilly cowgirl before I castrate you."

A third thump told me that Glozelle had also been defeated. There was a short silence as my situation was assessed, during which my head swam sickeningly and my eyes drooped shut. The voices of my rescuers suddenly sounded like I was hearing them through a wall.

"Oh Aslan! Look at her back!"

"Get the keys and get her out of those chains!"

There was a momentary pause, filled with the jangling of keys, and then a third voice sounded close in my ear. "Don't worry, Maria, I've got you. Nothing else is going to happen to you. You're safe." it said, unlocking my shackles and freeing my wrists. I was already unconscious as I dropped from the chains and into a pair of strong arms.

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Emily-

I sat with my arms wrapped around the neck of the gryphon I'd snuck out of their camp, following Edmund as we retraced our path back to Miraz's castle. I didn't even feel the least bit scared of the height, as anger and determination were the main things in my mind. We were flying over the little down by the castle, the last rays of the sun casting long shadows across the ground. I looked up to see Ed look back at me and give a nod as his gryphon took off with a burst of speed toward the castle, circling the outskirts of it and finding the turret that led to the dungeons.

Before we'd left, Ed had gone back to find Caspian and tell him about our plan. Wanting to help in any way possible, Caspian had not only promised to cover for us should our absence be noticed, but he'd also given us directions to the dungeons and, should we not find Maria in a prison cell, the torture chamber.

I really friggin' hoped we would find her in the prison cell.

My gryphon followed Ed's as it dove down toward a door that was ground level and, as Caspian had said, led to the prison. Ed jumped from his gryphon's back and ran toward the door, drawing his sword and killing a guard that stood there, before turning back to me. I swung my leg over the side of my gryphon as it hovered over the ground and jumped, earning myself a straight 10 points from the judges with my landing. Ed, who was watching to make sure I was alright, nodded before throwing open the door and charging forward. I drew my daggers and followed suit.

We ran down some pretty narrow stairs that twisted down and seemed to go on forever. It felt like we were running for forever, and it was boring as hell. Unfortunately, when I got bored, my mind wandered to the horrible state we might find Maria in, and that made me want to start crying, but there wasn't really anything I could do to distract myself from those thoughts.

After what felt like an eternity, Edmund abruptly stopped running. I bumped into him and then peeked around his shoulder to see a big door hanging slightly open. Edmund turned to make sure I had both my daggers drawn before planting a kiss on my forehead, and then he turned and busted the door open.

The two of us burst into the prison and charged down a set of stairs. At first glance, the chamber seemed to be empty of guards, and Edmund and I both relaxed. We went forward and started checking the cells, one by one, looking for any sign of Maria.

I'd checked about 10 cells before Edmund's voice called to me softly from the other side of the chamber. "Any sign of her?"

A cold sweat was breaking out on my forehead, and when I responded my voice was hoarse. "No, you?"

"No," he responded regretfully. My heart pitched in its beating. "Edmund, what have they done with her?"

It wasn't Edmund that answered my question. "If you're looking for Maria, you'll need to go further into the castle."

I whipped around curiously in time to see Edmund jump a Telmarine guy, who I'm assuming was the one who spoke. The guy didn't even try to defend himself as Edmund charged him and pressed his sword into his neck, looking pissed as hell. But the guy's face rang a bell, and as Edmund moved to attack him, I sprang forward.

"Stop, Ed! This is the guy from Maria's vision!" I cried. Edmund froze, but put his sword back into the guy's neck. I stepped forward until I was properly looking at him.

For a guy about to be potentially killed, he didn't seem at all worried. His eyes were dull and sad as they looked between me and Edmund.

"You know who we're here for?" I asked, although it sounded more like a statement. The guy turned his dull eyes on me.

"The Narnian girl they're holding here. Maria. Yes, I know her well. But you're not going to find her here. Miraz has taken her away."

"What do you mean, you know her?" I demanded, my nosy best friend side getting the better of me. This guy sounded pretty familiar with Maria, and he was pretty hot. Had she possibly found someone to make up for Peter's doucheheadedness?

"I've been bringing her food ever since she got here. We started talking and now we're pretty good friends, if I do say so myself." he replied, the first flickering flame of emotion showing in his eyes.

There was an awkward silence as I contemplated this, and I was going to pursue the subject, but Edmund interrupted and reminded me of the mission. "Well is she injured?"

"She was shot in the shoulder with a crossbow and they hit the back of her head to knock her out pretty bad, but other than a few other cuts and bruises that was the worst of it. Of course she's probably worse off now though.."

"We don't have time for your moping," Edmund snapped, sounding very much like Peter all of the sudden. "Now, you said you're friends with her. Do you want to help us save her?"

The guy's eyes flared with a sudden burning fire. "Yes." he said firmly.

Edmund withdrew his sword from his neck and yanked him forward, shoving him toward the stairs. "Then lead the way."

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Maria's Telmarine hottie led us through a long, complicated series of hallways and other rooms and then finally down yet another, longer set of stairs than those leading into the prison. We were all sprinting down them with weapons drawn when the dude suddenly stopped, causing me to ram into him and Edmund, who was behind me, to ram into me. The dude was standing rigidly, and a moment later I heard what had caused him to stop.

A terrible screaming was echoing up to us from farther down the stairwell. Fury and horror filled me as, at the sound of the cries, the lion pendant I wore around my neck started burring with such a fiery passion that I knew, undoubtedly, that it was Maria we were hearing. I shot Edmund a tearful look over my shoulder to see him staring forward with a choking expression, his face pale. He met my eyes and, upon seeing the pain there, reached out to me, but I had turned and shoved past our frozen Telmarine guide before he could touch me. I sprinted down the stairs with a renewed vigor in my limbs, my feet almost flying as they carried me. Before I knew it, I had reached a huge door, behind which the screams of Maria echoed with bloodcurdling volume.

With ninjalike skills, I kicked the door open and, with a furious yowl, charged forward to my friend's rescue. I jumped down the last 5 or so stairs, the boys hot on my heels, and had a clear shot at Miraz. At the last second he turned to face me, screeching in anger at the sight of the three Narnians, but with an indescribable pleasure I cut him off as I slammed my dagger down against his temple, drawing blood and knocking him out. At my sides, Edmund and the Telmarine dude were just finishing with Miraz's buddy, who dropped to the ground unconscious. The other, however, was making for Maria, and the anger that coursed through me blurred my vision.

I stepped toward him with my daggers held at his heart. "Step away from my hillbilly cowgirl before I castrate you." I seethed before slamming my dagger against his head, knocking him out also. With a flourish, I turned away from him and to Maria, and let out a strangled cry.

"Oh Aslan! Look at her back!"

Edmund and the other dude came to my side, each hissing as they looked at Maria's back. The space between her neck and mid back was shredded and swollen and completely bloody. I had to hold back gags as I looked at it. These Telmarines were going to pay.

There was a moment pause before any of us said anything, and then Edmund snapped out of the sickened trance caused by the wounds. "Get the keys and get her out of those chains!" he commanded, trying to sound strong and in control but instead sounding as weakened as I felt. The Telmarine dude obliged quickly, scurrying over to Maria and undoing the chains that held her. She dropped like a rock once her hands were free, but the Telmarine caught her before she could hit the ground, showing surprising care and gentleness as he supported her. Careful not to touch her horrible wounds, he turned her so her back was away from him, whispering something in her ear. I could tell from the way she meekly held her head up that she was trying her hardest to listen to him, but then her head lolled backwards and she lost consciousness.

My heart was ripping into a jillion pieces as I watched her. Would we get back to the How in time for her to wake up again?

Edmund shuffled closer to me and leaned down to whisper into my ear. "I'll bet you Peter doesn't like that."

I snorted, vaguely acknowledging his statement. I could give a damn less what that bastard thought anymore. Although the observation did make me notice how tender the Telmarine guy was being with Maria. I would for sure have to ask her about that when she woke up. Because she _would_ wake up. She had to.

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It was around midnight when the forest we were flying over cleared into the huge field that led to the How. I had my arms wrapped securely around Edmund's back, and was leaning into the area between his shoulders tiredly, letting my eyes close but not going to sleep. I kept opening my eyes and looking over to where the Telmarine guy, Perseus, was flying on a gryphon of his own, with Maria sitting in front of him. She hadn't woken up yet, and I was worried sick.

"Ready to face the others?" Edmund asked softly, as our gryphon started diving down for the How.

I gave a noncommittal grunt as a response to his question. "I'm ready for Maria to wake up, is what I'm ready for."

I looked down to the How to see a lone figure standing on the ledge, and as I strained my eyes to look I realized this was Susan. Upon seeing us flying in, she turned tail and ran back into the How, no doubt to alert the others.

Sure enough, when our feet were firmly planted on the ground again, we were greeted by Susan, Caspian, and Trufflehunter, all of them looking anxious.

"How is she?" Caspian demanded as Edmund jumped from the gryphon and reached back up for me.

Edmund answered with a question of his own. "Where's Lucy?"

"We made her go to sleep," Susan said in a quiet voice. "Her nerves were getting to her, and you know how she gets when she stays up too late."

Edmund grunted in response. I turned away from them and scuttled over to where Perseus was having difficulty sliding off his gryphon without dropping Maria. Normally, I would've pointed and laughed at the sight, but at that moment I felt like I'd never laugh again.

"Here, I'll hold her up," I offered, reaching up and grabbing Maria's shoulders to steady her. Perseus shot me a grateful look and jumped down as the conversation behind us was continuing.

"Where's Pete?" Edmund was asking.

"In talking with Glenstorm about the progress of the army. That's where we all were, so I wouldn't doubt if he noticed something about our random disappearance." Caspian responded, sounding foreboding on that last part.

"Good," I said angrily. "I hope he does notice. Then maybe he'll see the state Maria's in and he'll realize how big of a douche bag he is."

Caspian snorted at this, and Trufflehunter clucked his tongue wearily. There was an awkward semi-silence, which was broken by Perseus.

"Where do I need to put her?" he asked me, looking anxious. I silently cursed our stupidity. Standing around gossiping outside definitely wasn't helping Maria at this point.

"Follow me," I replied, turning and starting to jog for the How. The others followed me, and I heard Caspian hiss contemptuously,

"Who is that?"

I shot him a glare over my shoulder. "He's one of Maria's friends. And if I recall, you also came back from the castle with a little Telmarine companion, so why shouldn't we be able to?"

I looked back only long enough to see Caspian's mouth gape open like a guppy before turning and quickening my pace. Without even really meaning to, I lead my posse straight to the Stone Table Room, where, much to my distain, I was greeted with the sight of Peter. Upon hearing a loud group of people stomping through the corridor, he had turned away from Glenstorm and watched us enter with a suspicious look on his face.

"What's all this?" Peter demanded as I made my way down to the Stone Table, turning back as the others entered. First came Susan and then Edmund, followed by Perseus and Caspian, who somewhere along the way had stopped to help carry Maria. Trufflehunter shuffled along behind them as they dragged Maria into the room, her head lolling and her feet dragging.

As they hurried forward with her, I heard a strangled cry from behind me and turned to see Peter standing with a shattered expression on his face as he watched. Almost as soon as I looked at him, he turned to me and met my glare with eyes reflecting a deep desperation and sorrow. The expression shocked me, but what shocked me more was how he flinched away from my glare before turning away from me and darting forward.

I exchanged a startled glance with Edmund as Peter ran forward and grabbed Maria from Caspian and Perseus, swinging her up into his arms possessively and hurrying over to the Stone Table. As he laid her down, I gave a cry that came out sharper than I meant it to be, drawing everyone's attention.

"Don't put her on her back," I hissed lowly, stepping forward and gingerly rolling her over onto her stomach and off her wounds. This time, as the horrible gashes were revealed, I couldn't help but burst into tears, and Edmund hurried over to hold me consolingly.

Caspian gave a low hiss as he saw the whip marks, and Susan gave a loud wail before starting to sob. From the corner of my eye, I saw Caspian step forward and shyly put an arm around Susan's back; at his touch the Gentle Queen turned and buried her face into his chest. Peter, upon seeing Maria's back, collapsed onto the Stone Table next to her, grabbing her tiny limp hand in his own huge ones and saying her name softly. A moment passed, and then he started shaking, his body racked with sobs. This only made me cry harder, and as I pressed my face into Edmund's chest tears that had rolled off his cheeks dripped onto my head. From where he stood behind the Stone Table, Glenstorm gave a low, mournful whinny.

It was utterly quiet in the chamber, the only sound being the occasional hiccoughing sob coming from one or the other of us. That is, until the voice of one of my least favorite Telmarines echoed sneeringly down at us.

"Now, what's going on here?"

I stiffened against Edmund's chest as Escidia, in all her bitching glory, alighted into the room, not at all concerned by the sight of the broken and bleeding girl laying before her.

**Hey all. Gabby here :D**

**Sorry it took so long to update but SOMEONE(hinthintJORDI) was too busy being Australian to write *glares at Jordi***

**lol jk I still love her ^.^**

**Anywho,REVIEW. Peace muffins 3**


	15. Chapter 15

Emily-

"What the hell do you think is going on here?" I shrieked at Escidia, finally snapping. All I wanted was to rip her stupid silky hair from the roots, and jumble up her face with my fist. She was playing with fire, and sooner or later I was going to explode.

"Don't you dare acknowledge me in that tone," she said, in her snooty voice. I rolled my eyes at her.

Peter, all dried up, let out a sigh, and I glanced at him, making Escidia finally notice something in the room besides me and Ed. But her reaction was worse.

"Oh no!" she cried, and threw herself down beside Maria while we all stared. She grabbed Maria's other hand, and to my horror, she began to fake-cry. Now, I'd done drama classes for years, and I could tell this chick was good.

"Maria! My best friend! You simply can not die! I don't know what I'd do without you! You can not leave me and Ed alone!" she cried.

I was dumbfounded. Everything in that sentence was wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. Escidia HATED Maria. Mostly because Maria was MY best friend.

I realised what she was doing when Ed approached Escidia, laying a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Escidia, to my horror, stood up and pressed herself into Eds chest, hugging him tightly.

"Are you kidding me?" I gasped, and Ed looked at me with disapproval.

"Don't be so horrible, Emily." Edmund glared at me. Ed. Glaring? This was wrong, so wrong.

I let out a breath, and with once last glance at my unconscious hillbilly cowgirl, protected by her medicine man, I stalked from the room, out to the rock ledge that had been my last downfall. I knew people wouldn't look for me there; they wouldn't think I'd go back there.

So I sat out on the cold ledge alone, and waited.

But no one came.

And then I realised that the only person that would come would be Maria.

And she was unconscious, covered in whip wounds.

With the thought of the horrible marks on my friend, and the horrible person that hurt her, and the horrible fear that had trilled through me when I found her, hanging from the walls in unimaginable pain, I started to cry.

No, wait. Crying was an understatement.

I started to bawl my eyes out.

I pulled my knees to my chest, and hugged them tightly, my head in the space as I sobbed quietly. All these feelings had just come falling out at once, and I was at a loss for how to stop them.

I choked on my own tears for Aslan knows how long, just rocking back and forth. I had no clue what to do; where to go.

I hated this feeling.

I felt empty; alone.

Something moved my hand, up to the hollow of my throat, where my lion necklace lay. I gripped the pendant in my fist, still rocking, and curled up tighter. I needed Aslan to help me. Or at least to send someone to pull me out of this black hole I'd fallen into since witnessing Maria's pain.

And then; I heard footsteps.

"My Lady?" said a quiet voice, and I looked up into the face of a young man of around seventeen, with long, dark hair, and strong features. I could see from where I was sitting that he was strongly built, and had a bow strapped to his back. He was looking down at me in genuine concern, and immediately I knew this person was sent by Aslan.

"Are you alright, my lady?" he asked gently, and I was pleased when instead of trying to make me get up, he merely sat down beside me. I quickly brushed the remaining tears from my face, and straightened up, embarrassed.

"I'm..uhm..fine." I said quickly, talking to myself as much as the stranger. "Who are you? I haven't seen you around before."

It was only then I realised the danger in the situation. I was alone, weaponless, and on the edge of a huge drop with an armed stranger. I was screwed.

The stranger seemed to notice what my thoughts were, and he held his hands up in defeat.

"Please, my lady. I am no enemy." And with that, he pulled his bow and arrows from his shoulder, and tossed them at my feet.

I picked the weapons up immediately, and strung them over my own shoulder, holding the bow carefully, like I knew what I was doing.

"Who are you?"I repeated.

"I am Dilan." He replied. "Son of the Chief of the Northern Alliance."

"The what?" I asked, completely confused.

"The Northern Alliance. Hidden Warriors of Narnia. We have come to join your forces against the Telmarines."

"Oh." I said, not knowing what else to say, and still trying to sound superior. "Do the Kings know you're here?"

Dilan nodded, and so did I.

It was kind of awkward, seeing as he had just caught me crying and all.

"Milady, if you permit me to ask, what was wrong?" Dilan said nicely. I blushed.

"Umm.." I couldn't even talk about it. Honestly, there were too many things wrong at the moment. I had no clue to begin.

But this person, this stranger, made me feel safe for some reason.

So I put down his bow, and smiled at him.

"Firstly, its nice to meet you, Dilan." I smiled. "I'm Emily."

Dilan smiled back. Hm. He had a nice smile. "A pleasure, Lady Emily." He said, and like a true gentleman, kissed the back of my hand. I was so glad it was dark, because I was blushing like a loser.

"Please, just…call me Emily." Dilan nodded respectfully, and we both relaxed against the wall.

Dilan stretched his arms out in front of him, and I couldn't help but notice he had muscles. Yep, he was definitely a warrior.

"So, please explain who the Northern Alliance are?" I said, twisting my recently long blonde hair around my hand and tossing it over my shoulder.

"We are a secret people," Dilan began, "Descended from the very first King and Queen of Narnia. Our race, humans, are kept secret. We have dwelled in the North for many thousands of years, only known to the King's and Queens of the Time."

"So Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy know your people?" I asked.

Dilan nodded. "If they remember." He said. "We keep to ourselves, under strict rules, and then when we males come of age, we are inducted into the Alliance."

I nodded, twisting my fingers together. "And the Alliance are.."

"Warriors of our people. A small group, who only fight when we are needed. And forgive me my lady, but it seems we are needed."

"You're telling me," I mumbled. Dilan smiled at me again, and again I blushed.

"So where did you come from, Emily, if you don't mind my asking?" I smiled at his use of my name. Finally someone that didn't call me My Lady ALL THE TIME.

I looked at Dilan carefully, and opened my mouth.

And nothing came out.

I furrowed my brow in confusion, because frankly, I had no clue.

Where did I come from?

I remembered faces, names, images and sounds.

But no sense of place.

How strange.

"I..I'm not sure." I stuttered. I needed to talk to Maria about this, to see if she remembered something, anything. I looked down at my hands, which were shaking, and all of a sudden I felt tired. My adrenaline from our rescue must have run out.

"Emily?" I heard Dilan ask distantly. "Are you alright?"

All I heard was my groan in response, as I pushed myself to my feet. I used the wall to keep me upright. For some reason I had an overwhelming need to see Maria. I needed to get to her..quickly.

But my legs felt like jelly. I looked up at Dilan, who was on his feet, looking down at me in concern.

"Help me get to the Stone Table Chamber," I gasped. What was wrong with me? "Please!"

Dilan surprised me by pulling me onto his back, and running like I weighed nothing. I was so confused. What was wrong with me? Why did I feel so horrible all of a sudden?

It was then I realised.

Mine and Maria's necklaces were linked, our feelings too.

Me feeling so much pain, after the hour of peacefulness.

Maria must be coming around.

MARIA-

Ouch.

Pain, pain, everywhere. Why was I hurting so bad? My back stung all over and I felt the dull throb of hundreds of bruises all over every imaginable place on my body. My head felt like someone was peeling it back, layer by layer, as if they were peeling an orange.

All these many feelings of pain were sharp and sudden after my many hours of dark, dreamless sleep. It was almost like my head was breeching the surface of the water only to be met but a dozen seagulls pecking my eyes out. It was really quite unwanted, and immediately I wanted to be asleep again. Although, of course, I always wanted to be asleep.

The first thing I noticed, after the pain tearing through every fiber of my being, was the fact that my hands were currently in the grasp of two others hands. I didn't really take much notice of this at first, however, because almost immediately afterwards I noticed the low voices echoing around me. I couldn't distinguish what they were saying for a few moments, as my mind was working at the pace of a snail, but as I strained my ears I managed to catch my name a couple of times.

"Should we get Lucy's cordial?" came a voice I never thought I'd hear again from somewhere close by me. I was suddenly hyper aware of the big hand cupping my own.

"I'm not sure," came yet another voice I was relieved almost to tears to be hearing. "I thought the cordial only worked on mortal wounds. And although she's very badly beaten up, I can't quite say hers are life and death injuries."

I cracked open my eyes at this point. They were blurry and unfocused at first, but soon they adjusted to the dim light of the room and I was able to make out shapes around me. The first I noticed was the high and mighty profile of a beautiful young Telmarine woman, and the sight of her made the pendant on my throat burn lowly. The second, and this one inspired an entirely different reaction, was the rather hunched up figure of a certain blond haired boy to my left.

"But we have to do something! We can't risk her dy-not waking up." the boy cried out, his voice cracking over the words. The pain in his voice drew me to lift my head and look around at the other gathered people.

"If you want my opinion," I said in a hoarse voice, my throat screaming in protest of excessive use. "I don't give a damn whether or not I'm going to die, I just want something to take the freaking pain away."

Caspian, Edmund, Perseus, and Susan's heads all snapped down to me, their expressions all reminiscent of a deer in headlights. Susan gave a small cry of delight and rushed at me.

"Maria! Thank Aslan, you're alive!" she exclaimed, pulling me up into her arms. The sudden jerking up made my back feel as if it were being ripped open and I screamed in pain.

Susan instantly released me, her face white as death and her eyes huge. "Oh gosh, are you alright?" she whispered, taking a step back. I would've almost found her fear comical if it weren't for the fact that the pain was back with a renewed vigor in every part of me.

"Peachy keen, Su," I replied gruffly, laying back down again. I turned my head to the side, to the golden haired boy who held my hand, my expression impassive.

Peter was looking down at me with eyes almost as big as his sisters, his mouth hanging open in a little 'o' of shock. As I looked up at him I felt a sudden rush of emotions towards him: anger for him leaving me, joy at his hand holding mine, cautionary of his well known temper, and a great longing for him to hold me to him.

Silence had overtaken the room and was pounding on my ears when I noticed his glassy eyes and wet face. He was crying. Peter effing Pevensie was crying. A whole new rush of emotions filled me and I offered him the tiniest of smiles.

Peter didn't return the smile, only continued staring down at me with tears on his face. Then he abruptly sprang forward, gathering me gently in his arms. And then he leaned towards me. And then he kissed me.

It wasn't one of those nomnom face sucking kisses, but it was an extremely gentle, totally sweet kiss, as if he were afraid I had whip lashes on my lips. But he managed to put every ounce of emotion he had in it, and it was decidedly the best kiss of my life. After a few moments, he pulled away, and then he returned my smile full force.

"Well, it's about time!" came a loud, sarcastic voice, and I looked over Peter's shoulder in time to see the one and only Emily on some other dude's back, waving frantically at me.

I grinned through my pain, and from the look on Em's face, she was feeling it too. But what was more interesting was the hunk of yummy whose back she was on, and the murderous look on Edmund's face.

"I'm bacccccccccccccccccck!" I croaked in a relatively singsong voice to break the obvious tension. I felt Peter squeeze my hand, and my eyes flickered back to his, both filled with joy. He was so…hmm.

"OH THANK GOODNESS MARIA!" I heard someone cry, and jerked when Escidia flew down like a bat and hugged me. It was almost as if she was glad.

And then she whispered in my ear.

"You're alive. That's too bad." And she pressed her palms, hidden from view, hard into my wounds. I let out a scream, and heard Emily gasp.

"Get off of me!" I squealed, and collapsed back to the ground, feeling Peter's arms around me. Escidia backed away, ahnds up.

"She must have twisted her body wrong," she said to Edmund, who was still staring at Emily and the other guy.

"Bullshit," Emily gasped, letting herself drop down from the new guy's back. "I know what you just did."

"What ever do you mean?" Escidia asked sweetly.

"Look, you can mess with me, you can mess with Ed, but you even try to mess with Maria, and shit will go down."

"You're such a horrible person!" Escidia squealed, and burst into fake sobs. I looked at her in confusion, and then at the furious Emily, and I knew, like Em had just said…shit was gonna go down. Especially when Escidia ran over to Ed, and he hugged her back.

WAIT, HE HUGGED HER BACK?

Now I was pissed too.

"She hit and pressed my back," I whispered to Peter, and saw his expression darken.

Emily was getting closer to Escidia, her tiny little fists curled, ready to kill. I leaned up to Peter again when I saw Edmund looking down at Escidia.

"Peter, stop her. This will make things worse."

Emily leapt forward to hit Escidia, but was knocked breathless by not Peter, but the new guy tackling her waist, and lifting her over his shoulder as she screamed insults at the bitch. The new guy carried her right out of the room, leaving an awkward silence.

Edmund was staring after the pair, and Peter was on his feet next to me. Escidia glanced at me and smirked, before cuddling closer to Ed and pinching his cheek.

"Thanks Ed," she giggled. "Someone had to help."

To my glee, Edmund nodded at her, and pushed her gently away, leaving the room alone. He was obviously upset about the new guy and Emily's nonchalant reaction to him touching her. Poor little Ed.

He deserved it, hugging the she-male Telmarine beeotch. I watched Peter sink back down to my level as the rest of the room, including a very close together Susan and Caspian, a confused Reepicheep, a grumpy Trumpkin, and a stuck up Escidia. I cleared my throat, and I saw her raise her eyebrows at me before turning and sashaying away after Ed.

Peter was looking down at me again, and his sparkling eyes once again claimed my attention. Hmm. I could look at Peter forever. Instead, I looked out the door after Em, and saw him smile.

"Come on then," he laughed, and scooped me up into his arms, carefully holding me so he didn't touch my wounds.

I giggled as we walked down the torchlit stone corridor.

"What?" he smiled at me through the dim light.

"I feel like a damsel in distress," I laughed, and to my surprise his eyes widened.

"Did you want me to put you down? I don't want to offend you!" he said quickly, lowering me.

"No, no!" I smiled. "Women in my day are liberal…but I like being a damsel. Especially when you're the knight." I leaned over and kissed him softly, and the taste of his lips nearly drove me insane.

"Now, Emily on the other hand…don't ever call her a damsel. She's a crazy Australian. Very hands on."

Peter nodded happily. "I'll pass the word on to Ed."

"If they ever get their act together…" I muttered. Peter bit his lip.

"You think things will be alright?" he asked, suddenly looking very innocent.

"I think so." I smiled, wanting to please him.

"Well, if you think so," Peter grinned, "Then I do too." He stopped walking for a second before kissing me again. I got a little over excited and tried to push myself closer to him; brushing my wounds in the process. Peter broke away, looking alarmed.

"You're having some cordial. I don't want you hurting." He said, and I nodded through the sting.

Peter carried me further out to the infamous rock ledge, where the new guy was sitting against the rock, while Emily was pacing, throwing her hands up in the air as she shouted and let out her anger.

Peter cleared his throat as he sat me down, and the stranger stood up and walked over to Peter. Peter stared at him in the dim light for a minute, before gasping.

"Ronan! Is that you?" he exclaimed, grabbing the strangers shoulder while Em and I stared. The guy stared too.

"You knew the great Warrior Ronan?" he asked Peter. Pete's face fell as he remembered the time difference since he was High King, and he looked very sad.

"I did know Ronan," he sighed. "He was my best friend, Chief of the Northern Alliance, and you," he pointed at the stranger, "Look very much like him."

The stranger smiled a nice smile.

"I am Dilan, a direct descendant of Ronan." He said, and to my happiness Peter beamed.

"You are?" he said loudly. "Very well, Dilan, you can catch me up on what happened!"

The two boys sat down next to eachother, already good friends. The male brain, huh.

I glanced at the stunned looking Em, who had an estranged expression.

"So…" I said slowly, and her eyes slid to me. "How was your day?"


	16. Chapter 16

*Chapter 16-*

**Ello lovies. Gabby here. If you're reading this, then that means that more than likely you're about to read the following chapter. If this is true, then REVIEW OR JORDI AND I WILL FIND YOU.**

**Now enjoy :D**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maria-

Emily, Peter, Dilan and I sat on the edge for a long time idly chit-chatting, and only went back into the How when we noticed that the sun had set. Emily and I were still talking when Peter was suddenly at my side wrapping his arm around my waist-an action that was still foreign and weird but gave me butterflies in my tummy all the same. I looked up at him in confusion as he pulled me up and swung me into his arms, still avoiding my wounds.

"Where are we going?" I asked, not wanting the evening to have to end. It was so nice to just be able to hang out and talk with Emily again, especially when this morning I never even thought I'd see her again. My time with the Telmarines seemed like a lifetime away.

"Back in the How. We're not supposed to be out after sunset." he replied, heading back into the How with me in tow. Behind us Emily and Dilan started laughing about some joke or another between the two of them.

"Even kings have to obey curfew," I said teasingly. He rolled his eyes at me, but grinned nonetheless. I peeked over his shoulder at Emily and Dilan in time to see Emily jokingly punch him in the chest and him grab her arm and pull her in to a headlock, eliciting giggles from her.

"Well they're awful chummy, aren't they?" I said lowly to Peter, who just shook his head. After a moment, his brow furrowed and he looked down at me in concern.

"Did you ever get any of Lucy's cordial?"

I shook my head and in a sugar coated voice replied, "I thought you were going to carry me there."

Peter laughed at my would-be innocent expression. "Oh of course, milady. Allow me to escort you there immediately."

I let out a satisfied sigh. "I can get used to this damsel in distress thing."

Peter laughed and leaned forward and placed a kiss on my forehead just as we reentered the Stone Table Room. As we entered and our eyes adjusted to the low lit room, we were greeted to the sight of the Edmund and the Spanish Barbie doll sitting, very comfy looking mind you, on the Stone Table. Escidia was sobbing hysterically-what else is new?- with her head on Edmund's shoulder and Edmund was cooing softly into her hair. I felt my grip on Peter tighten as Escidia's next words reached us.

"And she's just so mean! Edmund I don't know what I ever did to her to make her hate me so much! All I ever did was show her kindness and friendliness.. And now she's turning Maria against me!"

"I know, Escidia, I don't understand it either. Emily is a handful. She can be stubborn and hardheaded, but this.. I just don't know why she treats you the way she does." Edmund replied slowly, patting the Telmarine on the back comfortingly.

I heard a small gasp from behind me and realized without having to turn around and look that Emily had entered the room at that exact moment. Perfect timing, eh? I shot her a worried look over Peter's shoulder to see her standing rigid, her normally super tan face pale.

"Excuse me?" she demanded in a sharp voice, much louder than I'd ever heard her talk. It made me flinch, even though I knew she wasn't even remotely talking to me.

"This won't end well." Peter sighed lowly, stepping out of the firing range. No shit, Sherlock..

We stepped to the side and stood, awkwardly waiting the inevitable explosion. Dilan came and stood with us, looking extremely out of place. Which he was, I mean, he was a Stone Table Room drama virgin. Well, not for much longer..

Escidia gave a dramatic gasp and clutched onto Edmund's arm, looking like she was being assaulted by a raging minotaur as opposed to an angry teenager. Really, it was quite overdramatic and uncalled for. My back still hurt from where she'd pressed on my injuries earlier, and I shot her a filthy glare. She was a dirty little trickster, and Aslan could only know what she was up to now.

Emily marched into the room to stand in front of where Edmund and Escidia sat, practically cuddling, her hands clenched into tight fists. "Edmund, what the hell is going on here?"

Edmund shrank back just a tiny bit at her tone, but then, to my amazement, he narrowed his eyes into a glare at Emily. "We were just talking."

"I'll say you were talking! Talking shit! What else have you been saying about me behind my back, huh, Ed? Honestly, I don't know what your problem is." Emily snarled, looking vicious.

"I wasn't saying anything! It was Escidia doing all the talking," Edmund said, although the colour had drained from his face. He looked like a little kid who'd been caught peeking at the Christmas presents early. Although I cannot tell you how much I hope he hadn't been peeking at Escidia's "Christmas presents" at all…

"But you didn't rebuttal her, now did you?" Emily exploded, shaking in her anger. I felt bad for her, and wanted to run forward and hug her and then help her beat the crap out of Escidia. If only..

"But I didn't-" Edmund began, his face turning read in anger now, but Emily cut him off.

"I heard what you said! So don't try and tell me you didn't! Honestly, you act like I'm retarded and not worth anything to you. One minute you treat me like I'm your queen and the next you're all over that cuntface!"

Edmund stood up at this point. "Emily-"

"How the fuck do you expect me to trust you?" She shrieked.

Edmund didn't reply, only stood with his mouth gaping like a fish. He shot Peter a flabbergasted expression, as if asking for help, to which Peter only shook his head and, with me and tow, started walking away, out of the chamber. I shot Edmund a hard look as we passed, and unfortunately didn't miss the evil little smirk pulling at Escidia's plush lips from where she sat all pressed up against him.

Peter and I didn't talk as we hurried down the tunnel, away from the room where Edmund and Emily's world was seemingly falling apart. My heart broke for her as I replayed over and over again the conversation between Escidia and Edmund, that Emily had unfortunately overheard.

"Well," Peter said presently, breaking the tense silence. "I guess that's what we looked like whenever we fought."

I smirked vaguely at his sarcastic tone. "Yeah. Only Emily has enough dignity not to burst into tears in front of everyone."

Peter shot me a haunted look. "Maria-"

"Don't start, Peter." I said, cutting him off with a smile. He sighed and shook his head, leaning down and giving me another kiss, which I eagerly responded too. Peter eagerly started to deepen the kiss, but before it got too far I pulled back and shot him a coquettish smirk.

"I don't think now is the time nor the place, Pete," I said, and he gave me a pouting look before adjusting me in his arms and continuing on toward Lucy's room.

As made our way up to the little room and I raised my fist to knock, the door swung open and Susan exited, and then immediately after her came Caspian. I felt my eyes widen in surprise and Peter's grip on me tighten harshly. _Bow chika wow woooow._

Susan looked mildly surprised, and her face turned a delicate shade of red as she realized what we were thinking. "Peter, I know what this looks like, but Caspian was just escorting me while I got my quiver. He and I are taking the first watch."

I looked up to see Peter look suspiciously between the two, but after a moment he just shook his head. "Be careful, Su." Peter muttered, and stepped aside so the two could pass. Susan smiled down at me as she passed and I waggled my eyebrows at her in return.

Peter carted me into the girls' room, where we saw Lucy sitting on her bed putting her shoes on her feet. She jumped up as we entered, her eyes wide.

"Oh, Peter! I was just about to come and find you two. Here," she grabbed her cordial from the little pouch on her hip and uncorked it, stepping towards me. "Open up, Maria!"

I did as instructed, ignoring the many mental images the order put in my mind, and Lucy poured one scarlet red drop into my mouth. It tasted wonderful, and immediately I felt the magic begin to work its.. Well, you know.

After a few seconds I felt completely better, and jumped down from Peter's arms-very regretfully, mind you. Immediately, his arm shot out around my waist and drew me towards him, in case I was unsteady on my feet, but I didn't seem to need the help. I was completely healed.

"How d'you feel?" Lucy asked anxiously, her blue eyes wide. I grinned down at her.

"Like a million bucks," I replied, and she laughed and hugged me.

"I'm so glad you're better Maria!" she chirped, doing a little jig.

Peter placed a kiss on my forehead. "Me too," he said, before turning my face towards him and fully kissing me.

If it'd been up to me, that kiss would've lasted forever, but Peter, remembering Lucy was there, pulled back, offering me a private smirk.

"Now's not the time or place." he said, stealing my phrase from earlier. I smirked and playfully cuffed him on the chest before turning apologetically to Lucy, feeling bad for being so PDA in front of her. Her poor, innocent eyes must be burning by now..

The look she was giving us was priceless-she looked utterly bewildered, and also highly disgusted. She grabbed her other shoe from the bed and marched toward the door. "I'm sure when I'm older, I'll understand," she said over her shoulder before hurrying away, leaving Peter and I in a fit of laughter.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

EMILY-

How could he say that? Edmund, Edmund. How?

For once, I wasn't exhausted like in every other fight we'd had. I just wanted to let out my anger, hit something…or someone.

Number one on the list was Escidia.

How could one person, so seemingly insignificant, screw everything up so easily? It was almost sickening.

So I continued to yell at Edmund, even after all our friends had left the room. I guess they didn't want to be in the line of fire or something. But that little snot stayed curled up on the bench where Ed had been sitting, while he stood protectively in front of her. As per usual.

"Ever since SHE appeared, you've changed, Edmund!" I screamed, and he bellowed right back.

"I"ve changed? You're the one that changed, Emily! You just turned into a monster, and I hate it! I hate it! I hate you!"

Ouch. I closed my mouth, that was open for the retort that just wouldn't come out. What could I say to that? I obviously didn't hate him, otherwise I wouldn't be arguing.

Escidia raised her eyebrows and smirked smugly as I froze. I let out a breath and let my eyes fall to the ground. He'd said it. He hated me.

There was nothing to do but leave. I was angry; furious, and defeated. Now I really needed to hit something. I spun on my heel and heard Escidia laugh mockingly as I ran from the room, out into the small hallway, where I was surprised to see Dilan waiting, a concerned look on his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked, and I glanced at him, still walking quickly, and unable to speak as I held back tears. I shook my head at him, and flicked my eyes back ahead.

"Do you need to hit something?" he asked, and I looked at him again, nodding. He grabbed my wrist and tugged me down another passageway, both of us running now.

When we arrived at the main area, there were soldiers everywhere, banging pieces of metal into weapons, all moving about in a neverending stream. Dilan picked up a sack that jingled as he moved it, and we made our way up a set of stairs that I'd never seen before, that just wound up, and up, and up.

After a few minutes, Dilan slowed to a stop, turning to check if I was still with him. I nodded at him, teeth clenched. I was going to explode soon. He pushed open a rough wooden door to reveal a training ground at the top of the How, where there were a heap of Narnians training.

Even though I had trained before, that had been in the more or less private section of the How, where I was staying. But the only people up here looked extremely well trained, and they were all human.

Dilan answered my unasked question. "Prince Caspian gave the Alliance this area to train. Come with me, before you explode."

He jogged through the crowd, pulling me along after him. We reached a small enclosed area, and Dilan reached inside the sack, pulling out a long stake, and a shapeless bundle, before tossing the jangling sack at my feet.

"Tip it out," he said without looking at me, as he arranged whatever it was that was hidden by his body. I did as he said, and from the sack tumbled a mixture of weapons, all dinging and clattering as they fell to the ground.

"Ooh, shiny," I joked. Dilan glanced at me with a grin, and stepped away from what he'd been adjusting. It was a dummy, with long ferns for hair, and bits and pieces dangling off it; giving it a female look.

"Meet Lady Escidia." Dilan chuckled, and my mouth dropped open with a grin of shock and mischief. I reached down to my feet where the pile of weapons lay.

"This will actually help with your training. Throwing knives first." He said, stepping behind me.

I reached for a couple of different weapons, and stared at the dummy. But somehow I just couldn't imagine it was her. Dilan seemed to realize this, and made my day.

In a high pitched voice, he said, "Oooh, that Emily is so scary, Edmund."

And all of a sudden my hand was empty and a knife was in the dummies chest.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ESCIDIA-

I watched the blonde haired freak as she trained with the warriors. She had skill; anyone could see that. But I had more. I had skills she could never imagine, I could manipulate people to do whatever I liked, as I had demonstrated with the Kings.

And soon, I would completely replace Emily.

It wouldn't be difficult. My plan was already in motion as the unknowing faun carried the goblets of 'water' to her, offering her a drink, which she accepted.

In a few hours, she would be gone.

I laughed as I ducked back inside the filthy keep, making my way back to MY King.

I passed Maria and Peter on my way, all cuddled up together. I smiled at them, sickeningly sweet. Soon Maria would trust me, more than she would ever be able to trust Emily again.

After Emily committed the ultimate betrayal.

It really was too simple.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MARIA-

I was in bliss when Emily and I finally finished chattering for the night. He were curled up in our beds, finally falling asleep, after hours of giggling about Peter, and brooding about Edmund.

Hmm, Peter. The image of his beautiful blue eyes, and sandy hair filled my brain, filling me with a sense of joy and…other good feelings. I was so lost in the illusion of his face, and fell deeply asleep, unable to hear the soft footprints leading from the room.

**Review, minions! Mwahahahah :D**

**Love and peace from the HILLBILLYHUNTERS**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Allooo :D Gabby here with yet another installment of EPIC. Huzzah!**

**Read. Enjoy. REVIEW. Or we'll set Escidia on you to steal your hot sexy kings. :3**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MARIA-

I woke the next morning with a bubbly feeling all over. I wasn't sure why, but I had a feeling it was gonna be a good day. As I jumped up and started getting ready, I looked over to Emily's bed and saw that it was empty, the sheets lying in a messy heap on top of it.

That crazy Australian seriously needs to learn some cleaning skills.

Quickly, I arranged my hair in a messy braid using the brush Lucy had let us borrow(thankfully, both she and Susan had had brushes in their bags when they'd left England) and left our room with a spring in my step. I was in a seriously good mood. Pheh. Hormones.

I needed to find Susan and ask about getting a new dress made-ya know, considering the one I had on was completely shredded(tacky), had bloodstains all over it(yuck), and smelled like ass(ew.)

Reaching the main chamber, I saw Susan and Caspian just coming back in from their night watch, both looking super worn out but cheerful. Heh heh. Night watch. Cheerful looks. Worn out. There are so many ways that could be taken. I skipped over to Susan, a raunchy smirk on my face.

"So Su, conquer any intruders last night?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows as I spoke. She looked confused for a moment, then her face gradually turned a not so gentle shade of red and she shot Caspian a horrified look. Caspian, the dunce, looked completely clueless.

"The woods were clear of Telmarines last night, Maria. Nothing to worry about." he said matter-of-factly.

Another uncalled for sexual remark was on the tip of my tongue, but I really didn't think Susan's face could get much redder, so I spared her the pain of trying to make it. "Whatever you say, Caspian," I said mysteriously, before turning to Susan to address the matter at hand. Caspian shrugged and, with a smile to Susan, started off for the Stone Table Room."Hey, do you think I could get a new dress made? Since the one I'm wearing is all.. you know.."

Susan looked thoughtful. "Couldn't you just use the one Emily had made, seeing as she isn't wearing it? Or you could use my purple one once my new one is finished. Just to save the seamstresses time so they can work on the men's armor."

Duhh Maria. I completely forgot that both Em and Susan had perfectly good dresses I could wear. So I really liked Susan's purple dress, but seeing as she's a queen and all(plus her new dress isn't even finished) I'd feel..I dunno, cheap taking her leftovers. "I'll ask Em if I can use hers whenever I see her. By the way. where is the shedevil?"

Susan just shrugged. "Probably with Dilan." she replied before starting off to her chambers. I rolled my eyes and headed off for the Stone Table Room-my Peter senses were tingling strongly from that direction, and anyways I knew that the people who rationed the food took the humans' food directly into the Stone Table Room. Told you it was our headquarters.

I arrived to the sight of Peter, Lucy, Caspian, and a few select others all lounging idly about the Stone Table Room. Peter and Caspian appeared to be in the middle of a heated debate, both flaying their arms and sending chunks of their breakfast flying everywhere. Next to them sat Lucy, who was thoughtfully picking at her cheese with a bored expression on her face. Peter and Lucy looked almost as tired as Caspian, who had of course been out on the watch with Susan. I sighed and resigned myself to going and splitting Caspian and Peter up before they started smacking each other, but as I started across the room I was intercepted by none other than Perseus.

"Always the morning person," he said with a smirk, noting my unhappy expression. I smacked his arm jokingly.

"I'll have you know I'm in a fantastic mood this morning, thank you very much." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. He laughed and shook his head. "So, what's their malfunction?" I asked, nodding over to Caspian and Peter.

Perseus snorted and shrugged. "Probably fighting over some plan of action or another, Aslan only knows at this point. Anyways, I was just on my way to the training field. Would you want to come and train with me?"

I smiled up at him. "Sure. Just let me eat something first so I don't like faint from exhaustion or something. But I gotta warn you, you're in for the ass kicking of your life."

Perseus laughed and ruffled my hair-what am I, five?- before turning and heading off down the passageway. "We'll see about that."

Snickering, I turn and head over to the Stone Table, sitting down next to Lucy. "Morning, Maria! Oh, I've got your breakfast right here." she chirps, snapping out of her reverie and drawing a wrapped up bundle.

"Thanks, Lu." I say with a smile. "Say, have you seen Emily?"

Lucy shook her head. "She's probably off training with Dilan. Did you see Susan?"

"She went to y'alls room."

"Alright, I think I'm going to go give her her breakfast before she falls asleep. Good luck getting those two to break it up," she said, indicating to Peter and Caspian and jumping off the Stone Table. Ripping my bread in half, I turned to the two battling guys in time to see Caspian storm dramatically off, leaving Peter glaring after him. Wow, mission accomplished.

"Good morning, starshine!" I said cheerfully to Peter, drawing his attention. When he saw it was me his frown cleared and he sat down beside me, throwing an arm around my waist.

"It's about time you got up, sleepy head." he said teasingly.

"Hey, you should be thanking me. I'm a monster any earlier in the morning than now." I retorted. "Ok, so what were you and Inigo Montoya over there fighting about this time?"

Peter sighed angrily. "He was appealing for Escidia. Apparently she thinks she deserves her own rooms now."

I choked on my cheese. "Are you freaking kidding me? Susan and Lucy are _queens_ and they don't even get their own rooms!"

Peter shook his head. "That's what I said, Maria. But Caspian is persistent."

"I thought he didn't like Escidia, either." I said curiously.

"He doesn't. I think he was just doing it to get her off his tail. That and he likes arguing with me."

"I'm sure that's not the case." I said evenly, patting his arm comfortingly. I think Caspian hated his fights with Peter even more than the rest of us did. Wait, I didn't mean that how it sounded. Caspian would rather have gotten along with Peter to be able to come up with an efficient battle plan. That's what I meant. Not like Caspian had a mancrush on Peter or anything.

Peter just shook his head and shrugged. "I know. But it feels like he does." He was about to say something else, but a loud peel of laughter interrupted him and made us both look up to the entrance to the room.

Edmund and Escidia were just coming in from Aslan knows where, Escidia screeching with laughter trying to be cute but honestly sounding mentally handicapped. They walked past us without even noticing us.

"Hey Ed," I called, drawing his attention. "Have you seen Emily at all this morning?"

Edmund's smile falters for a second, turning wistful, then cold. "No." he snapped, turning away from me. Escidia giggled loudly again before leaning around him.

"I'm sure she's out wandering the woods, doing nothing useful for us." she said, shooting me a wink. I glared furiously up at her, earning another loud round of laughter. Honestly, was she on happy gas or something? "Ta ta, Maria!" she trilled, turning and dragging Edmund away.

An awkward silence followed in their wake. "Anywhooooo.." I said after a moment, still trying to comprehend the wackiness that is Escidia.

Peter got to his feet, stretching as he stood. "I'm off to make my rounds. Care to join me in an hour or so for the noon patrol?"

"Oh, I'd love-" I cut off, suddenly remembering Perseus. "Shit, I can't. I told Perseus I'd train with him today. Sorry Peter."

Peter frowned heavily. "Perseus?"

"Yeah, the one that helped me when I was with Miraz."

"Oh." If possible, Peter's frown deepened. "Alright then. Well, I guess I won't keep you, then." he turned and started heading off.

"Ok, see ya, Pete," I called after him, confused by the sudden mood swing. Without turning or saying anything, he waved over his shoulder before disappearing down the tunnel.

After a moment, I too stood and headed off for the training field, grabbing my quiver and slinging it over my shoulder. This day was shaping out to be interesting, to say the least.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Now block!" bellowed a voice as I walked out into the training area. There were strong looking warriors everywhere, mostly humans, so I assumed I was in the right place. I searches around for Dilan, or even a tiny little Emily, but I couldn't see either.

"My lady," said a strong voice from behind me, and I turned to see an older, more experienced looking warrior standing there.

"Um..hi." I said, not sure what to say. The man radiated authority, and wherever authority was concerned..well…I wasn't always the goody goody, if you know what I mean. But this strong looking man, so full of power, seemed different. He had a small smile on his face, and sparkling eyes.

"May I be of any assistance my lady?" he chuckled, sensing my hesistation. I nodded.

"I'm looking for Emily and Dilan." I replied, biting my lip. He nodded, and turned to his men, all fighting ominously with looks of intense concentration.

"Has anyone seen Lady Emily or Dilan?" he called, and somehow his majestic voice carried over all the fighting.

"Im right here," called a familiar voice, and Dilan appeared, strolling through the crowd.

"Shit." I hissed, looking at the ground.

"Whats wrong, Maria?" Dilan asked, looking concerned.

"No one can find Em. We all thought she was with you."

"I have not seen her." He said, frowning.

'These are bad tidings, young ones." Dilans father said deeply, his voice full of worry. "I have the feeling that something dark and terrible is coming, and Lady Emily's disappearance is only the beginning."

We all stared at eachother for a moment, before beginning to run as fast as we could towards the Stone Table Room.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Woot..Almost to 20 :D**

**This is Gabby here, and I'm being held here against my will o.O *ducks away from the insane Australian***

**Anywho.. WHOSE SEEN THE NEW VODT TRAILER? *me! me!* You have? K. Good. Gabby out, homenuggets.**

EDMUND-

Ever since Maria had asked me if I had seen Emily at breakfast, my day just went from weird to weirder. The Narnians out in the training field had seemed fidgety and nervous, as if they thought the impending battle was suddenly there. A few hours into training I caught wind of the latest gossip: a lone Telmarine-probably a bloody spy- was seen running about the forest late last night and managed to evade shots by the Narnians.

About the time I heard this, I saw the brown haired form of Maria sprint off for the How, that Dilan character chasing after her, both wearing similar looks of distress.

Not long after that did a very flustered Lucy come to interrupt mine and Escidia's training to inquire as to if either of us had seen Emily. When both of us said no, she let out a defeated sigh and trudged back toward the How.

Almost immediately after that, I saw Susan enter the training area, a distressed look on her usually calm face. When I'd asked her what was wrong, she said she was just trying to find Emily.

It was about that time I realized that something was seriously wrong. When Maria had asked me about Emily, I'd just figured she was trying to mention Emily as a jab to me and Escidia; girls do strange things like that all the time. When Lucy had asked me where she was, I'd assumed they were playing a game or something and Lucy had to find her because she was hiding; Lucy was always trying to get people to play with her during the long days when stuck in the How. But the look on Susan's face when she was looking around the room for Emily seriously disturbed me.

Where _was _Emily? Where had she gotten off to that not even Maria knew where she was? Was she alright?

A touch on my arm drew me out of my reverie. I looked down to see Escidia looking up at me, her large brown eyes concerned. "Is something troubling you, Edmund?"

Upon looking at Escidia, a huge lump of guilt worked its way into my stomach and settled heavily there. Perhaps Emily had run off because the way Escidia and I were behaving? No, that's not likely. Emily wasn't the type to run away from things.

But still.. Maybe if I hadn't been so harsh and hadn't spent so much time with Escidia..

The arrival of my older brother spared me from having to explain my worries for Emily with Escidia. Peter clapped a hand on my shoulder and nodded curtly in Escidia's direction, although it didn't escape my notice that he kept his eyes on me. I felt a brief flare of anger; why was everyone so rude to her? An obvious answer jumped out to me: Emily had probably been gossiping about Escidia to Maria, who in turn went and ran her mouth to Peter.

"We've called a meeting."

I shot Escidia a sideways glance, then turned to follow Peter's retreating form, the feeling that something was very wrong only growing with every moment.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MARIA-

As I raced down the tunnel to the Stone Table room, Dilan hot on my heels, I felt worry for Emily burn my mind, along with some anger. Where the hell had she gotten off to, and why hadn't she told me where she was going beforehand? Honestly, the least she could've done was leave me a note or something. That way I wouldn't be running about having panic attacks and about shitting my pants in worry.

So much for my fantastical day.

I burst into the Stone Table room, only to slam roughly into someone going the opposite way. I let out a high pitched yelp-what can I say, I was jumpy?- and fell backwards, flat on my ass. There goes my ability to sit for at least a week.

"Maria, watch where you're going next time!" came the slightly amused voice of Peter. I felt his hand on my arm, pulling me back up. "What in the name of Aslan are you running for like that?"

"Peter, I'm really worried about Emily." I blurted. "No one has seen her anywhere."

Peter let out a sigh. "Is that what this is about? Look, she's probably off with Dilan in the-"

"When she says no one has seen Emily anywhere, she means me as well." Dilan's curt voice cut in as he came to stand beside me. Peter looked to him with narrowed, calculating eyes before turning back to me.

"Maria, I'm sure Emily's fine. She's probably out going for a walk, or doing a voluntary patrol, who knows what. I'm sure you're just worrying over nothing."

So, something to know about me: I cry when I'm frustrated. Always have, and unfortunately probably always will. Just at that moment, I was fed up with everyone acting like this wasn't a big deal, and that I was just some little kid who needed to be placated. And the fates willed me to prove them right, for I felt a fresh wave of blubbery tears start pouring down my face.

Peter took a step back, looking like he'd stepped in poo. "Maria, what on Earth is wrong with you?"

"I-want-my-crocodile-hunter!" I whimpered pathetically. Then I realized how stupid I probably looked and sounded, and only started crying harder.

Peter seemed to remember that he was supposed to be my boyfriend and drew me in for a hug. "Don't worry, Maria, we'll find her and she'll be ok."

"But nobody's seen her anywhere." I repeated, my voice muffled due to the fact my face was squashed against Peter's chest.

Said face squasher let out a sigh. "Would it help calm you down if I called a meeting about it?"

I sniffled. "Yes."

"Alright then. Wait here."

Suddenly, I stopped crying. "Oh, Peter, you're the best! No wonder they call you the magnificent."

Peter laughed and gave me a kiss on my head before heading off to call the others. I turned to Dilan with an embarrassed smirk on my face.

"Sorry you had to see that."

"Sorry? You played him like a bloody violin! That was brilliant." Dilan said, chuckling.

I laughed before going to sit on the Stone Table, waiting for everyone to get here so we could figure out where in any of the worlds Emily was.

"She's probably a spy, plotting against us. I knew I'd seen that look before…it's the same one in Miraz's eyes." Escidia droned, while everyone looked at the floor. She hadn't shut up since she entered, and I was getting sick to death of her already.

"I mean, her little things with Edmund, Dilan and Caspian, and probably half of the rest of the men in the How were obviously ploys for attention, and to get more people on her side." I grit my teeth.

"And that accent? Please. I'll bet she was just trying to seem more different from us all, trying to seem all-"

"ESCIDIA." I boomed, and she stared at me. "SHUT THE HELL UP. And while we're talking about stupid accents, have you heard yourself when you speak?"

I saw Peter grin, and Edmund death staring me. Caspian and Susan were standing there awkwardly, while Lucy looked confused.

"Emily is no spy." Peter smiled at me, taking my hand. "So, obviously she's been captured somehow."

"Maybe by that Telmarine last night?" Susan grimaced.

Suddenly Lucy burst into tears. "Not Emily! We just got Maria back, and look what they did to her!" I self consciously let my fingers slide over my scarred back, and I felt Peters fingers lightly do the same. Lucy continued, " I'll be darned if that happens again! I want Emily back, and I want her back now!"

It was Lucy's outburst that kept Escidia quiet.

"Look, Your Majesties. Emily is one of my best friends, and I will go and get her back." Dilan piped up, and I was annoyed to see Edmund shoot him a possessive glance. Edmund didn't have the right to be possessive of Emily. Not since Escidia showed up.

"I'll go too." Peter said immediately, not to be outshined.

"Look, stop. Everyone stop." Susan piped up, glancing at Caspian, who was seated beside the Professor.

Caspian licked his lip slightly, and stood.

"What we need is time. And there is a certain tradition of the Telamrine people that may buy us some."

I let out a snort. "What, are we gonna show up in tribal clothes and perform some sacred ritual of Telmarine customs? And then offer a human sacrifice in place of Em?" I turned and pointed at Escidia. "I vote her!"

Escidia shot me a nasty glare and took a step in my direction. "How dare you! Do you know who I am?"

I rolled my eyes. "Unfortunately, yes, I do." When I saw she was still advancing towards me with her dainty little hands clenched into fists, I continued. "Oh, please, you don't scare me, so don't even try. Besides, you and I both know I could snap your fakeass like a toothpick."

Edmund came to stand next to Escidia, glowering down at me. "That's enough, Maria."

"Aww, how cute! You've got him trained and everything!" I cooed to Escidia. "And how many times did you have to spread your legs to him to get him to do that? Seeing as his emotions obviously aren't based off your god-awful personality."

That was enough to shock Escidia-and everyone else in the room, for that matter- into silence. If only Emily was there to have seen that.

After a moment, the silence got a little awkward. I cleared my throat, feeling my face turn red. "Anywho, you were saying Caspian?" I said, shuffling back to Peter's side. He slid his arm around my waist and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "That might have been a bit too far." But I could hear the smile in his voice, and knew he secretly agreed with me. Deep, deep, deep down in there.

Caspian stared at me in bewilderment for a moment before shaking his head and continuing. "Right. Yes, the Telmarine tradition. We will issue a challenge to a one-on-one duel with Miraz. He will have no choice but to accept it, lest he look like a coward in front of his people."

"Well that's all fine and good, but just who do you propose we send to duel him?" Edmund asked.

"Me, of course." replied Caspian quickly. "I should think that much is obvious."

"Caspian-" Susan gasped, sounding horrified. I couldn't really blame her, either. I mean, I could see the genius behind Caspian's plan, but risking his life to do it wasn't that great of an idea.

Lucy was apparently thinking the same thing. "Caspian, we can't send you out to fight! You're the prince!"

I threw in my two cents. "This isn't exactly the best time for you to go around playing the hero, dude."

Escidia, the little dipshit, was thinking along entirely different lines. "Oh, Caspian! That is so brave of you! You're so noble!" I snickered at the 'what about me?' look Edmund shot her.

"Everyone stop!" Peter shouted suddenly from my side. We all turned to him at his random outburst. "We will challenge him to a duel, but it won't be Caspian fighting. I will fight him."

I sucked in my breath in a sharp gasp and nearly started choking on air, while Caspian came to resemble a two year old throwing a hissy fit.

"No! I will be the one to fight him! This is _my_ battle!" he barked, glowering at Peter. I hardly heard him though; I was still stuck on the whole 'Peter dueling Miraz' thing.

"This is everyone in this entire How's battle, Caspian." Peter retorted, trying to keep his cool. "Besides, we can't risk your life on a duel like that. Where would we be if you died?"

"I do not think you understand me. This is _my_ war, he is _my_ uncle, it is _my_ throne! I will not have someone else fight my battles for me!" Caspian hissed.

"Exactly! It's your throne-that's the reason we can't let you fight. Let's say you do fight and get yourself killed. What would Narnia be without its heir? That's why we need someone to fight the duel that it wouldn't matter if they lived or died. We need to keep you alive long enough to take the throne."

"But Peter-" I began in a very small voice, feeling my stomach twist into knots at the thought of him fighting. What would I do if he was hurt?

Edmund cut me off. "Are you sure you want to risk yourself like that, Pete?" he sounded uncertain, and when I looked over to him I could see fear on his face. Thank Aslan I wasn't the only one who had some sense around here.

"Absolutely. It's the only chance we've got."

"No, it isn't." Lucy piped up, drawing everyone's attention. "There's still another chance. One that's more likely to help us win this war than anything any of us can do." she looked pointedly up at the carving of Aslan on the wall. "We need to find Aslan."

Escidia let out a snort. "Aslan? Surely you all do not believe in such wives tales as-"

Peter cut her off with a sharp look. Instead of rebutting Lucy, as I had expected him to, he nodded at her. "You're right, Lu. We need to try and find him."

Susan stepped forward. "Lucy and I could ride out to the cliff where she said she saw him and try and find him."

Caspian looked down at her worriedly. "But won't that be dangerous?"

"Lucy will be more likely to find Aslan if Susan's the only person with her." Edmund said. "Grant it I don't like the idea of sending them out alone, it's probably the best chance we've got."

Peter looked thoughtful. "Ed's right. Susan and Lucy will ride into the forest while I'm dueling Miraz, and in the mean time we'll send lookouts for Emily." he paused for a moment, looking everyone over. "I guess we're done here. Ed, I'm going to write the challenge to Miraz now, with-if he doesn't mind-the help of Dr. Cornelius. When I'm done I want you, along with Glenstorm and the Giant Wimbleweather to deliver it to his camp."

Edmund nodded, but was quickly intercepted by Escidia, who latched onto his hand and dragged him on out of the room. The others also dispersed, until only Dr. Cornelius, Peter, and I remained. Peter quickly dictated the challenge, while Cornelius wrote it out, but I didn't hear any of what was being said. My ears were ringing and my brain was throbbing from the shock of Peter dueling Miraz. Why did no one say anything? Did no one care that he was potentially going to be killed?

My head swam as Peter signed the challenge, sending Dr. Cornelius to give it to Edmund for delivery. It was only after he had left the room that Peter finally turned towards me. Neither of us said anything, only stared at each other before finally I felt like I was going to explode.

"Please don't do this!" I burst, my voice sounding all crackly. Peter let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair-I knew him well enough to be able to read that as a sign of an upcoming fight.

"I have to. We can't risk Caspian fighting, and there's no way in hell that I'll let Edmund do it."

"But you're the High King! What happened to all that 'the most important person here' stuff? You can't go out and fight him!"

"I'm the High King of a Narnia 1,300 years in the past. Narnia needs its current heir-Caspian. He's much more important than I am."

"Not to me he isn't!" I shouted, sounding hysterical. Melodramatic? Very. But what can I say? I am female, after all.

Peter sighed again, looking away from me. "Maria, please stop. The challenge is already on its way there, so even if I did say I don't want to fight him it's already too late." I gave a weird little hiccoughing gasp, and he pulled me into his arms. "I'll be fine, don't worry. Now, then, why don't we go for a walk around the How to get our minds off things?"

Recovering from my near panic attack, I nodded and allowed Peter to guide me out of the Stone Table Room.

xxxx

Peter and I were just entering the main room of the How after our umpteenth lap around the place when suddenly Edmund, followed closely by a grave looking Glenstorm, stormed in. Edmund glowered furiously around the room before spotting me and Peter, and then he charged over to us.

"Ed? What's the matter? Did Miraz not accept our challenge?" Peter demanded, sounding as surprised as I was at the look on his face.

Edmund shook his head. "He accepted, just like we knew he would."

"Well what is it? Did you see Emily?" I asked.

He turned his extremely pissed of gaze to me, and I felt myself shrink back slightly at the heat of the look. "Oh yes. She was there."

"What? Is she alright?"

"Of course she was. Escidia was right all along. Emily is nothing but a traitor, and a Telmarine spy." Edmund spat.

A flash of anger made me step up to Edmund with a glare that surely made his look pathetic. "What the hell are you on about now? She would never betray us!"

"Oh she wouldn't, would she?" Edmund snarled. "Then explain to me what she was doing over in their camp, training among the Telmarines?"

I felt icy cold run through me and hit me in the knees, shaking them so bad I thought I was going to fall over..which was typical of me. I looked up to meet Edmunds somehow cheeky-yet-angry expression and tried to look less concerned then I really was, although I was sure my face was whiter than a virgin's. "Maybe they were doing an interpretive dance?"

Edmund seemed oblivious to my answer, as if he already had his speech planned. "Exactly, there is no excuse be- doing a what?"

Not knowing anything better to do and not in the mood for any awkward explanations, I turned tail and pelted back to my room, ignoring Edmund and Peter calling after me. I slammed the door behind me and slid down to the floor, finally allowing myself to think about what Edmund had said.

Emily..at the Telmarine camp... I just couldn't believe it.

No, really-I couldn't believe it. Things just weren't adding up to me. Now, I knew Emily like the back of my hand, and I knew she would never in her right mind betray the Narnians to the Telmarines. I might not be the ripest banana in the bunch, but I was smart enough to realize that this meant that she probably wasn't in her right mind. Huh..

"Oh, jingles." I gasped as realization pimp-slapped me in the face. I sprang to my feet and burst from my room, running to find the first person I could.

This happened to be Perseus. I ran up to him and grabbed him forcefully by the front of his tunic, nearly giving him a titty twister in the process. "Maria, what the-"

"Emily is under the influence of drugs and alcohol! She didn't listen to her D.A.R.E instructor!"

Perseus looked lost. "What?"

"She's drunk! It explains so much.. she musta hit up the booze to drown her sorrows and got super drunk, wandered over to the Telmarine camp, and thought she was still at the Narnian camp! It all makes sense!" I chirped, pleased at my own cleverness.

"Um, Maria? I really don't think you stay drunk for days on end after one night of drinking.."

My eye twitched. "Are you questioning my methods?"

Perseus' expression changed to one of bemusement. "I don't think Emily's the one that's drunk."

I let out a huff and turned away, flipping Perseus the bird in response to his laughing protests. So, he was off the list.

The next person I happened across was little ol' Lucy. Nearly dancing in happiness, I ran through my theory to her, and unlike Perseus she looked convinced.

"It's the only thing that makes sense.." she said, grinning. I let out a victory whoop and held my hand out for a fist bump, but Lucy only stared blankly at it.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"It's a fist bump..you know what, never mind. So are you in?"

"In? For what?" Lucy was still stuck on the fist bump, making a fist with her hand and staring down at it in bewilderment.

"To help me retrieve our runaway companion," I replied, getting slightly frustrated with no one being on the same page as me. Usually I was the one trying to keep up.

Lucy looked regretful. "Oh, I really wish I could, but I have to ride out with Susan tomorrow, remember?"

Realization returned once again to pimpslap me across the face. "Oh," I said pathetically, feeling lost. I had been really hoping Lucy would be able to come help me with my plan, not only because of her elixir but also because she's the only person in this whole freaking How that isn't all doom-and-gloom about everything. And I really could use a not-doom-and-gloom buddy right now.

Lucy looked just as disappointed as I was. "I'm really sorry, but Peter needs me to find Aslan. I wish I could.."

"It's all good, Lu, don't sweat it. I think finding Aslan sounds much awesomer, but you know, someone's got to save Emily." I shrugged.

Lucy giggled, but the sound of footsteps made us both suddenly quiet. I saw Susan stride into the hallway behind Lucy, looking exhausted and slightly peeved off.

"Lucy, I've been looking all over for you! You need to be in bed, you know we have to get up early tomorrow to go out to the forest." she scolded, putting her arm around Lucy's shoulders and steering her away in a very mom-like manner. Lucy barely had time to squeak a goodbye over her shoulder before being careened away.

Well, great. So Perseus, Lucy and Susan were all out of helping me, and they were the three most reliable. I let out a sigh and headed back to my room, locking the door and quickly changing from my bloody dress to Emily's fresh one. I was glad we were basically the exact same person build-wise, because it meant that I could just throw it on and go.

And that was just what I was gonna have to do, because it looked like I was a lone pickle in this rescue mission.

I quickly pulled my unruly hair into a messy braid. Like Emily, my hair had grown like weeds in summer here in Narnia, and was now down to my midback. I gave myself a quick once over in the tiny mirror on the wall; not that it really mattered how I looked, considering it was dark anyways. Grabbing my bow and arrows, I slipped out of my room and crept through the hall, trying to remain nonchalant and yet not get seen by anyone the same time. I felt like some kind of super badass spy on some kind of top secret, fate-of-the-world-depends-on-it-mission. Jamie Bond. Oh yeah, that's totally me.

I managed to make it to the main chamber of the How undetected, which was a new record for me. Just for the heck of it, I dropped down and did a ninja roll into the room, unconsciously humming spy music under my breath. Unfortunately for me, I was not only the most uncoordinated person in Narnia, but I was also in a skirt, and thus landed in a rather unbecoming heap on the floor. But that's ok, because I was the only one in the room, so I totally popped back up and continued on like nothing had happened.

Almost to the door..just a few more feet..you can do this, Maria..you're gonna make it..!

"Lady Maria, where are you going at this hour of night?"

I froze in place, literally a step away from freedom. A note to anyone who ever happens to find themselves in Narnia, never underestimate the terrible timing of badgers.

I turned and looked down at Trufflehunter with what I hoped was a normal(though in reality was probably demonic) smile. I think my eye might have twitched, but no matter. "I've got the next watch tonight." I lied smoothly.

Trufflehunter looked unsure. "I thought it was to be King Edmund and Glenstorm?"

"Oh, Edmund?" Damnation, Edmund. "He asked me to take over for him in light of the challenge tomorrow. That and he's so worried about Emily.."

Is it possible for badgers to raise their eyebrows? Because I swear to all the higher powers of all the worlds that Trufflehunter did right then. "I was informed he was taking the watch specifically so he could watch for Lady Emily."

DAMNATION, Edmund! "Hey, don't ask me, I'm just going by what I was told, which was that he was too stressed to take the watch. Goodnight, Trufflehunter."

I didn't turn fast enough to miss the calculating look on his face. "And to you, Lady Maria."

Still feeling his eyes on me, I walked as fast as a person can without looking really obviously up to something out of the How. As soon as I made it into the field, I only kicked it into turbo and sprinted through the grass, realizing just how red my face had been during the confrontation. I was never a good liar, and I blushed easily anyways. Ah well, hopefully I'd be able to get my business done and be back before Trufflehunter started a real commotion.

After what felt like hours of running, I finally made it to the trees on the other side of the field from the How. I could already hear the loud rumble of many men's voices all talking at once, and dropped down to my knees in the bushes. I crawled along crouched over like this for a while, feeling really ridiculous with my bum sticking up in the air, until I could see a faint light through the leaves. I peeped out and saw what was undoubtedly a fire, around which walked a lot of men, but I couldn't necessarily make out anything because of my poor eyesight. If only I had brought my glasses..

I tried squinting to see better, but that only succeeded in guaranteeing me future wrinkles. I let out an exasperated sigh. Why did this have to be so freaking difficult? Ah well, I thought, you're doing it for Emily. Resigning myself to raising my chances of getting caught and being even more undignified than I already was, I laid flat down on my stomach and army crawled to a point where I could actually see, doubling my badassedness.

From my new vantage point(which was practically right up in the middle of the party) I could finally make out the figures of the Telmarines all moving about the fire. None of them had armor on-I'm guessing it was a casual Friday?- and they were all laughing and talking and joking around, each with a mug of what I assume was alcohol in their hands. As their faces were cast into the light of the fire, I noticed a pretty disturbing pattern; most of them were teenagers. It was weird to realize that most of the people of the enemy army weren't that much different from me and my friends leading the Narnians.

Suddenly a twig snapped very near me, and I found myself looking up at an even more disturbing sight; a 15 year old blonde-haired girl, who also held a mug in her hand but unlike the others was dressed all out in leather armor.

"Emily!" only after I had done it did I realize calling to her was not the best idea, and I rooted to the spot as her head whipped around and she looked for the intruder. My heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest and start break dancing in the bushes, as in a very horror film-esque manner she turned and stared right at the spot I was hiding.

I shrank back a little, trying to cover my face but trying not to move so much as to make her see me. But something about her made me stop and squint up, observing her. Even in this lighting, I could tell something was wrong with her face. I studied her for a minute before I realized what it was-her eyes were different, somehow darker. My gaze dropped down to the mug she held in her hand, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from screeching in triumph.

I was right-she was sooo smashed.

I stared up at her as she continued looking around for whoever called her name, waiting for her to leave. Finally she turned away and headed back toward the throng of Telmarines, and without a moment to lose I backed out of the bushes and jumped to my feet, running faster than before back to the How. I caught my foot on my dress and face planted only once, but barely stopped to say 'ow' before I was on my feet again.

I was a banshee on a mission. I was totally going to sober Emily up and bring her back.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Still Gabby here. Hope ya liked it :) REVIEW**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

**Wazzup peeps? Gabster here :D HAS EVERYONE SEEN THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER YET? It was brilliant, Jordi and I totally called each other and had a major conversing fest about it. :)**

**Anywho.. ON WITH EPIC!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

EDMUND-

I let out what felt like the thousandth tired sigh of the night as I put the finishing touches on my armor. Though I had volunteered for it, doing tonight's watch was not something I was looking forward to. I guess I thought that since I wasn't sleeping that much lately, anyways, it wouldn't make that much of a difference if I was out guarding the How or sitting in my chambers, so I might as well be doing something productive. But now that the time to actually be on guard duty had come, I realized that watching for Telmarine invaders was the last goal I had on my mind for this night.

Well, let me rephrase that. Watching for _Telmarine _Telmarine invaders was the last thing I had on my mind. The one that I was looking for was, technically, a Telmarine soldier, though not, strictly speaking, of the Telmarine nationality.

As much as I hated to admit it to anyone, even myself, Emily was all I could think about. Ever since I had discovered her at the Telmarine camp.. No, ever since we first realized she was missing.. No. Ever since she had first appeared in Narnia, she had always been there, constantly filling some part of my mind. And it was bittersweet to think about her, because first I would remember all the laughs we had had-like when we'd first gotten to the How and she'd ridden on my back and smacked my butt like I was a horse- but then I would remember seeing her at the Telmarine camp, very clearly a traitor to the Narnians. To me.

I guess I know what my family must have felt like when I betrayed them to the White Witch.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of all thoughts of her. _She betrayed you. She betrayed all of Narnia. Peter was right all along. She's no good for you. _

Sighing once again, I grabbed my sword and crossbow and headed off, trying to ignore the small part of my mind which was still hoping that Emily would come running back to the How, to me, calling "Hey guys! April Fools! I really got you, didn't I?"

xxx

I had just entered the Stone Table Room when I bumped in to Trufflehunter. When he looked up and realized it was me, something very subtle changed in his expression, but it wasn't subtle enough not to make me realize that something was up. It was the closest thing to anger I had ever seen him portray.

"Good evening, Your Majesty. Off to go watch, I suppose?" he asked casually. I was kind of bewildered; what else would I be doing in full armor with my sword and crossbow, going to dance a jive?

I tried to keep the sarcastic incredulity out of my voice, which was hard for me to do. "Umm, yeah, I've got the watch tonight. Why?"

Trufflehunter, in a perfect impression of my mum when she's been lied to by one kid and had the truth revealed by the other, nodded his head while gnashing his teeth together. "I see." He said, sighing. "Well, then, you'll want to let Lady Maria know she's relieved of her duties."

"Maria? What? She didn't have any duties tonight." I said, my face scrunching up in confusion. Had Peter given her some special job to do? No, he wouldn't do that. I know my brother too well, protective prick that he is, and I knew for a fact that he wouldn't give her any jobs during the night. _It's way too dangerous_ I could hear the Peter in my head nag.

"That's not what she said," Trufflehunter replied mysteriously. "Good evening, sire."

I stared after him for a few minutes even after he had left. What was he on about, Maria saying she had 'duties' tonight? I didn't know Maria terribly well, but she didn't strike me as the secretive, go-behind-your-back type.

_Then again,_ a small voice in my head, notably not Peter, said. _You thought you knew Emily, too._

"Shut up." I growled to myself, buckling up my wits and heading out to the ledge.

xxx

Only about half an hour had passed before something actually happened-which was surprising, considering nothing ever happened on these watches. But anyways, I was sitting on the ledge, and yes, I was thinking about all the special moments I'd spent here with Emily, when a movement at the edge of the clearing caught my eye. I grabbed my crossbow and jumped to my feet, but instantly knew it wasn't a Telmarine soldier because the figure was much smaller. Keeping my hand on my weapon, just in case, I watched as the figure made its way at full speed through the field, clearly heading for the How.

When the figure got about half way through the field I was able to make out details, like that it was clearly a girl. It took a little longer for me to pick out specifics because of the dim lighting, but her hair caught what little light there was..

My heart leapt into my throat at the flash of blonde. I nearly cried out to her, but then I realized that this was not Emily. The hair was much longer, and more copperish also. And she was WAY too white to be Australian.

"What in Aslan's name..?" I whispered to myself, unfortunately recognizing her but dreading knowing what she was up to. But the magnificent face plant she pulled was so Maria-ish that there was absolutely no way to deny that it was her. So, watching as she pulled herself back up again and charged on like the Little Engine that Could, I slipped back in to the How to greet her. As I walked, it struck me that she was undoubtedly coming from the Telmarine camp. In the dead of night. While her best friend Emily was over there.

Hot anger boiled in me at this newest blow. Of course, I should've known that if Emily turned over to the Telmarines, her sidekick Maria would as well. So Escidia was right about her, as well. Almost unconsciously, I drew my sword and charged faster through the halls, ready to meet Maria and catch her before even more harm could be done.

xxx

MARIA-

"Why must I be so freaking..American?" I hissed to the empty chambers as I huffed and puffed my way back into the How. I realized now that I had SERIOSULY misjudged the difference between the How and the Telmarine camp, and the Narnian heat was taking its toll.

I really hoped no one had seen me returning; that I could do some fantastic, triumphant yell as I burst into the Stone Table Room, all the important Narnian leaders gathered around of course, looking at me in shock and admiration as I proclaimed my theory.

Of course; what I wanted to happen and reality just HAD to be complete opposites.

Nevertheless, I stumbled into the Stone Table Room with my arms flailing about; attempting to rasp out my news through my puffs.

"She-she-" I coughed, tripping over my own feet, and looking up to the Stone Table Room-

Which was completely empty.

"Oh my God!" I whined, throwing my hands up in the air out of pure exasperation.

I felt my body jolt with shock as someone grabbed my wrists tightly and forced me to the ground, my cheek thumping against the dusty stone floor roughly as I struggled.

"Let-me-go!" I screeched, hoping someone would hear me.

"Why? So you can steal the Narnian plans and return to your traitor friend?" said a familiar voice, full of undisguised rage.

"Edmund?" I screamed. "Ed- What the hell are you-"

"I said SHUT UP!" Edmund replied, and I was completely shocked to feel the cold metal of his sword against my neck.

"Edmund!" I hissed, confused and scared out of my brain.

"Get up, turn around and put your back against the wall." Edmund said slowly, and I did as I was told. He was holding a freaking sword against my neck; and I wasn't making any sudden movements.

I stared at him for a few moments before he spoke again.

"What did they send you for?" he asked calmly, but I could still see the hostility in his eyes.

I didn't say anything. I figured it was smarter to stay silent.

"What did they send you for?" Edmund repeated, louder this time.

"What did who send me for?" I screamed, unable to hold it in anymore. "What the FUCK are you talking about?"

"You're another spy for them! Just like Emily! Admit it!"

"Edmund, what the hell are you saying?"

"YOU'RE A TRAITOR TOO!" He bellowed, and I cringed against the wall, feeling tears prickling against my eyes and flooding down my cheeks.

"I'm NOT!" I squealed. "Edmund, I'm no traitor, and neither is Emily! She-She's drunk!"

"YOU-what?" Edmund cut off, his face ranging from fierce to confused.

"She's drunk! Smashed! Off her face!" I called, with no clue of what else to say.

"What are you talking about?" Edmund hissed, and I felt his sword against my neck again.

"I snuck to the camp..a-and she was there! Drunk! That's why she's there! She's-she's drunk!"

"Drunk?" Edmund's eyebrow raised slightly. I thought I was safe. "Drunk? Maria..you're a fool." He said quietly, letting his sword lower.

"What?" I asked. "I saw her, Edmund! She's not in her right mind! She's drunk!"

He shook his head, looking angry again; but not with me. "Maria! She's a traitor! Accept it! She's bad! She isn't with us anymore!"

"SHE'S NOT BAD!" I screeched. He was wrong; he was so very wrong.

"YES SHE IS MARIA! SHE LEFT!"

"She's going to come back!"

"SHE ISN'T COMING BACK!" he bellowed, before throwing a fist at the stone wall, which surprisingly crumbled a bit. He then let out a rattling, labored breath, and cursing, strode away into the dark corridor.

I let out a quiet breath myself; not willing to believe that my last hope for saving my best friend had just melted away into the darkness. I slid down the wall, and sat there, staring off into space, grieving..and planning.

xxxx

**EDMUND-**

I couldn't believe I'd just done that. Accused Maria, _Maria _of being one of them. I snorted. As if Maria could be a spy. She was clumsy, loud and impossible.

I snorted again, before realizing how horrible I was.

I could just imagine what Emily would say. She would hit me, frowning, with a little crease between her eyes while I grimaced. Remembering her the way she was; or the way she SHOULD BE nearly killed me.

I let my feet guide me along the passageways, my mind wandering, specifically after a certain blonde Australian. It wasn't until I could hear her voice that I realized I was outside of Escidia's chambers. I hesitated at the doorway, realizing she was talking to someone and unwilling to interrupt.

It only took me a few moments to realize Escidia wasn't speaking English. With a prickling feeling I pressed my face to the gap between the ancient door and the stone wall, biting down on my lip.

She was standing over a small cauldron, a strange, eery blue light not unlike that of the dreaded Jadis glowing around the room. Escidia's usually pretty, elegant face was contorted in a cruel smile and look of intense concentration as she stared down at the small cauldron. She hissed and spat out a different language, her eyes widening as she spoke and moved her hands over the cauldron, pulling small viles from the folds of her dress and dripping them slowly.

After a few minutes, it occurred to me that she was making a potion. But to do what? That was the question. I felt the rough stone of the wall pushing into my face, but I didn't care. I needed to see this.

The light in the room pulsated more, becoming brighter and brighter as Escidia's voice grew louder. She was moving rhythmically now, stretching over the cauldron as she pulled out a final small vial of liquid which even from the distance I could tell, with a sickening feeling in my stomach, was blood. She reached out, and let three drops of the scarlet liquid fall into the cauldron, throwing her head back with a croaking breath, as the cauldron began to emit curling wisps of smoke.

And the curling wisps turned a deep red, and began contorting into a very familiar face.

Emily.

I pushed myself back from the gap, and felt my back slam against the opposite stone wall silently. I was breathing erratically, gasping for air as I tried to comprehend what was happening. Maria was right..kind of.

I pushed myself away from the wall and began to bolt along the corridor, back to the Stone Table Room, plans coming together in my mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MARIA-

I swallowed deeply, feeling a massive lump in my throat as I realized that I had to go back to the Telmarine Camp. Alone again.

Aw, shit.

At least with Edmund I would have felt remotely safe..him being a knight and all. But he thought I was a fool, he didn't want to help Emily.

But I had to save her. She was my best friend, and she was intoxicated. Someone needed to get her back here where we could sober her up. And I suppose that job was mine, no matter how much I just wanted to go to Peter and beg him to come with me.

I stood up and leaned against the wall for a moment. All my plans for heading back to the camp sounded so stupid, and I couldn't seem to gather my thoughts after Edmund's rejection. I was surprised to hear light footsteps coming this way, and my heart started to beat faster.

Edmund had come back. He still cared about Em.

But when Escidia rounded the corner, swinging her slutty hips, I clenched my jaw and tried to ignore her presence.

"Crying over your traitor best friend?" she sneered. "I wouldn't be. She's nothing."

"Fuck off, Escidia." I growled.

"Ooh, not very happy this evening? What happened, realize that I was right this whole time?"

"Escidia, get out of my face." I said quietly, knowing that if I started a fight now, I'd never get the chance to go back and save Emily.

"With pleasure. It's not something I enjoy looking at." She laughed and strutted further down the corridor towards the food storage area.

"Fuck her," I sneered, and sped my way to her room. I knew it was childish and stupid, but I figured trashing her room was a good way to piss her off. I slipped inside, and began throwing around everything I could reach, knocking her mattress over, throwing her blanket around, kicking over the small table she had..under which was a small cauldron with a glowing light blue liquid inside.

"I'll bet this is like her beauty potion," I laughed, picking up the cauldron and getting ready to throw it. Right before I did though, I looked down and shrugged.

"Might as well get a little.." I giggled, looking around at the mess around me and finding a tiny glass vial. I uncorked it and filled it with the potion, plugging it back up and shoving it in my pocket.

I then looked back down at the cauldron, swinging it around, and threw it as hard as I could at the pile of blankets right beside the wall, knowing that the cauldron would shatter and the blankets could muffle the sound. After kicking aside a few more of her things that she had conned out of people, I giggled and stepped back to the doorway to admire my handiwork with a smile. That'd teach her.

Now to Emily.

I gritted my teeth and began making my way back to my room, several plans still running around in my head. I was so preoccupied that I didn't realize more footsteps coming quickly towards me. Edmund came jogging around the corner, his face full of intense concentration.

When he saw me, he jogged faster, pulling me into my room, and making sure no one else was in the corridor outside.

"We're leaving in ten minutes." He whispered. I felt my face light up with a grin.

xxxxxxx

After Edmund left my room to do whatever it is Edmunds do, I changed into my little battle suit. It was basically the exact same outfit as before, with Emily's skirt and bodice, only it had wicked chainmail. Feeling like a badass, I changed into it and flaunted around in it for a bit before remembering that we kinda had a mission.

Feeling excitement charging through me, I made my way to the front of the How where I planned to wait for Edmund. It felt good, knowing that we were finally going to get out there and do something. Sure, Edmund and I weren't exactly BFFL's, but we were united in our cause of going and getting Emily back. We were like the two of the Three Musketeers, off to get our intoxicated comrade.

Speaking of which, I was going to beat the crap out of that girl once she got back here. I swear, I'd gotten a few years knocked off my life from all the worrying I'd done over the past few days. Not to mention a few premature gray hairs...

Anywho, there I was, minding my own business waiting for my partner in crime. It was weird that I had gotten there before Edmund, because usually I was always late for like, everything important. So I was finally getting a taste of how annoying it is to be kept waiting when all the sudden Peter comes clambering sleepily into the room, and upon seeing him I promptly tried my hand at melting into the wall.

I'd been trying to avoid Peter all day, because I knew that if I was around him I'd get all fidgety and nervous and he would know something was up. And then he'd ask me, and I'm a horrible liar, and he would figure out what we were up to, and all sorts of melodrama would break out, and as you can very well imagine melodrama would kinda put saving Emily way off the radar. And of course, I'd been successful like all the rest of the day when it didn't really matter that much, but nevertheless he shows up at the last, most crucial second. Figures.

I shrank back into the shadows of the wall, pretending that I was a big colorful rock formation, but I was just a second too late. He came straight over to me with a big adorable grin on his face, and I already felt myself fidgeting guiltily.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked, seemingly oblivious to the peculiar scene of me groping the wall. His cheerful, 'its my favorite person in the whole wide world' tone of voice did nothing to help my guilt.

"I could and shall ask you the same thing," I said back, my voice chirpy. Peter didn't seem to notice, however, as the smile slipped from his face to be replaced by worry.

"Couldn't really sleep, so I thought I might as well try and practice some for the duel." he replied, and then I remembered that today was the day that he was supposed to duel Miraz. Unsurprisingly, this only made me feel guiltier, and also much more worried than I already was.

"Oh... Right." I whispered, finally looking him full in the eyes. He looked sad. "How d'you think you'll do?"

Peter shrugged. "Well enough. As long as I manage to at least give the Narnians a good enough start, then I'll consider it a good fight. And don't worry," he added, smiling again. "We're making sure we get Emily back today. I promise."

Feeling like I was going to break down in a massive hissy fit, I quickly looked away from him. But as I looked away, I saw in a hall beyond Peter's back Edmund, looking frantic and slightly guilty. It was time to go.

I looked back up at Peter and realized that I probably wouldn't get to see him before the duel started. This would be my last chance to talk to him before mine and Edmund's sneaking around was revealed to everyone, before the big fight for Narnia began. Shoot, as much as I hated to admit it, this was potentially the last time I would get to see Peter alive.

I needed something to say, something to tell him how I really felt. 'I love you' sounded too cheesy, while 'I have strong feelings of intense desire for you' sounded too raunchy. So, looking up into his wonderfully sexy face, I chose a nice little compromise.

"I'm quite fond of your existence, Peter." I said, standing on tiptoe to give him a kiss. The poor thing looked kind of lost, but he muttered an agreement. Barely holding back an onslaught of blubbering, I turned him in the direction of the Northern Alliance's hangout, tactically keeping his gaze away from Edmund. "Why don't you go try and find Dilan or Perseus to help you fight?" and before he could say anything else, I turned and darted out of the How, and judging by the heavy footsteps behind me, Edmund was following.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

EDMUND-

I caught up with and easily overtook Maria as we ran through the field that separated the Narnian and Telmarine camps. I kept checking over my shoulder to make sure she was okay, because she was wheezing as if she were going to keel over and die at any point. When we reached the bushes at the edge of the Telmarine camp, she literally threw herself on the ground next to me.

"You alright?" I asked, seriously debating stabbing her then and there to get her out of her misery.

"I might be skinny," she wheezed, "But I'm still American. And I am _not_ in shape!"

I let out a snort before turning my attention to the camp. It was utterly empty, other than a few soldiers lying around the dying remains of a fire. I shuffled forward a bit to get a better look, and sure enough saw, lying a little ways off, the sleeping form of Emily. I tried to ignore the usual thoughts and emotions that I felt whenever I saw her; there would be time for all that later, after we'd gotten her out of here. But first, we needed a plan.

I looked sideways at Maria, who was looking at me with eager anticipation on her face. Immediately, a plan popped into my mind, but the memory of the way I'd treated her earlier made me bite my tongue. But then I looked again out to where Emily lay oblivious and enchanted, and I made up my mind. My friendship with Maria came second to my relationship with Emily.

"Would you like to do the honors?" I whispered to her, indicating to the field. Her eyes widened as she realized what I meant.

"You want me to go out there and get her?" she gasped. I nodded, and she hesitated.

"Come on, this is your mission," I whispered encouragingly, as pieces of the plan more clearly fell into place. "I'll hang back and make sure no Telmarines sneak up on you."

Maria stared at me for a few moments before her eyes lit up with determination. "Right. I got this." she whispered, before crawling forward and getting to her feet. I drew myself to a kneeling position and watched as she crept slowly across the clearing over to the huddled mass of Telmarines, checking them all over to make sure they were asleep. Then she went over to where Emily was, and gave a little hop of joy. She looked up and swept the bushes with her gaze, apparently looking for me. Then she did possibly the stupidest thing I think someone could ever possibly do in a situation like this.

"Edmund?" she called, in a voice that was much too loud to be a whisper but not loud enough to be shouting. "Edmund, where did you go? I found her!"

Simultaneously, Emily and the Telmarine nearest her jerked awake. With shocking speed, Emily leapt to her feet and grabbed Maria in a headlock, while the other Telmarine kicked and slapped at his friends to wake them up. Maria yelped and clawed at Emily's arms, trying to free herself, while the Telmarines-clearly suffering from dreaded of all hangovers- all scrambled about, trying to make sense of what was happening. Meanwhile, I crouched farther down in the bushes, hoping to remain hidden for just a few moments longer..

"Emily, it's me, you idiot! Let go!" Maria squealed, squirming to get out of Emily's chokehold. "Dude, I'm here to help you! You gotta let go! Dammit, Em, don't make me-"

Maria cut off with a grunt as she punched Emily in the stomach, causing her to double over with a grunt. Maria fell ungracefully onto the ground, but in the same instant grabbed her bow and turned to the Telmarines. The instant their attention was diverted to her was the second I saw my chance. I dove out of the bushes and charged through the clearing toward Emily, who had recovered from the punch and was ganging up on Maria. I drew my sword and let out a shout as I smacked her in the side of the head with the handle, catching her as she crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Maria glanced over her shoulder to see what was happening, at the same moment one of the Telmarines ran at her with his sword raised. Still with Emily in tow, I lurched around Maria and stabbed him in the stomach, just as she turned to shoot the last of the soldiers who had been around the fire. We stood there for a moment, panting and staring at each other, before her gaze snapped down to Emily and she comprehended what was going on.

"Is she ok?" she asked, looking worried.

"She's fine, I didn't hit her that hard." I replied. Maria gave a short nod before turning and heading off, clearly eager to get out of the camp. I hauled Emily into my arms and took off after her, finally allowing myself to succumb to the happiness I was feeling at having Emily in my arms again.

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**REVIEW**


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